Pak vs NZ: Fakhar Zaman praised for 100

Fakhar Zaman, Pakistan's top-order batter, Thursday hit a much-needed century in the first match of the five-fixture one-day international (ODI) series against New Zealand.

Following his century, fans were excited as the opening batter's stands with Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq set the stage for the Green Shirts' momentum towards a possible victory.

Zaman hit 100 runs with the help of 10 fours and one maximum. This was his ninth ODI ton. His first century was against India in 2017, when he smashed 114 runs.

Haq scored 60 from 65 balls, while Azam missed his half-century by a run.

Babar Azam — the top ODI batter in the world — also achieved another international feat during the fixture as he completed his 12,000 runs in international cricket.

He took 277 innings to achieve this feat as the fastest Pakistani and second-fastest Asian batter. In the world, he is the sixth-fastest to get to this achievement.

Sir Vivian Richards was the fastest batter to score 12,000 runs in international cricket. He achieved this milestone in 255 innings.

Previously, Babar was the fastest Asian to score 10,000 and then also 11,000 runs in international cricket.

Overall, Babar is the eighth Pakistani batter to score 12,000 runs in international cricket. Previously, Inzamam-ul-Haq (20541), Younis Khan (11790), Mohammad Yousaf (17134), Javed Miandad (16213), Saleem Malik (12,938), Saeed Anwar (12876) and Mohammad Hafeez (12780) crossed 12,000-run mark.