Pakistan beat New Zealand by 102 runs in the fourth ODI and became the top-ranked ODI side for the first time in history. Babar Azam scored his 18th century and became the quickest to score 5000 runs. Pakistan now leads the five-match series 4-0 and joins India and Australia on 113 points. But Pakistan is on top of the standings when the points are calculated beyond the decimal point.
If Pakistan wins the fifth and final ODI, Babar’s side will take the sole position as No.1 with 115 points. If Pakistan loses on Sunday, they will slip to third position on 112 points. Pakistan’s previous best was third when they achieved it twice in 2007 and 2022.
On Friday, Pakistan rode on Babar’s 117-ball 107 to post 334/6 after being put into bat. In reply, New Zealand were 184/3 in 33.1 overs before being 232 all-out in 43.4 overs with Usama Mir and Mohammad Wasim Junior sharing seven wickets between them.
Babar completed 5000 runs when he was on 19 and reached the milestone in 97 innings of 99 matches. He surpassed Hashim Amla, who had achieved the feat in 101 innings. Babar’s innings was studded with 10 fours and he was involved in four fruitful partnerships. Shan Masood (44, 55b, 7×4) and Salman Ali Agha (46-ball 58) also scored for Pakistan. For New Zealand, Matt Henry took three wickets.
In chase of a 335-run target, New Zealand slipped to 46 for two before Daryl Mitchell (34) and Tom Latham (60) added 83 runs off 103 balls to steady the ship. When Latham became the fourth batter to depart at the score of 184 in the 34th over, Pakistan bowlers tightened the screws around New Zealand as the visitors were bowled out for 232 in 43.4 overs.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 334/6 (Babar Azam 107, Salman Ali Agha 58, Shan Masood 44; Matt Henry 3/65) beat New Zealand 232 in 43.3 overs (Tom Latham 60, Mark Chapman 46; Usama Mir 4/43, Mohammad Wasim Junior 3/40, Haris Rauf 2/37) by 102 runs.
