Riding on yet another superlative batting performance, Pakistan thrashed Zimbabwe by 131 runs in the fifth and final One-day Internation to complete a whitewash over the depleted-looking Hamilton Masakadza-led side.
Batting first, the visitors rode on centuries from Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam respectively to score a massive 364 for four in 50 overs. Fakhar Zaman also impressed with the bat, scoring 85.
In reply, Zimbabwe came up with an improved batting display but could not pose much of a challenge to Pakistan bowlers. The hosts eventually managed to put 233 for four on the scoreboard.
With the game now done, here are the statistical highlights of the Bulawayo ODI:
1. Fakhar reached 1,000-run mark in ODI cricket during his 85-run knock in Bulawayo on Sunday (July 21). He reached the landmark in just 18 innings, to become the quickest to do so. The record was previously held by five batsmen including Sir Vivian Richards, who took 21 innings to score 1,000 runs.
2. Fakhar scored a staggering 515 runs in the five-match series. This is the most by a Pakistani batsman in an ODI series.
Another southpaw Salman Butt previously held the record for scoring 451 runs in the five-ODI series against Bangladesh in 2007. Fakhar’s 515 runs in the series turn out to be the second-most by any batsman in a bilateral series.
Team India skipper Virat Kohli tops this list with 558 runs from six innings in a series against South Africa earlier this year.
3. Fakhar also created a new world record for the most runs scored between two dismissals in the ODIs. He scored 455 runs without being dismissed between the second match of this series and the fifth. The record was previously held by former Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf, who amassed 405 runs between dismissals, also in a series in Zimbabwe in 2002-03.
4. Fakhar and Imam-ul-Haq became only the second pair to share four 100-run partnerships in an ODI series/tournament. Yasir Hameed and Imran Farhat also had four-century stands during the five-match home series against New Zealand in 2003.
5. Sarfraz Ahmed became only the third wicketkeeper-captain to bowl in an ODI game. The other two are Tatenda Taibu and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Interestingly, Sarfraz also became the first Pakistan player and the 6th player overall to bowl in ODI format while playing as a wicket-keeper.
6. The Pakistan team registered six centuries in the series. These are the joint-most number of individual centuries scored by Pakistan players in an ODI series/tournament. They had done the same during 1982 during the four-match home series against India.
7. This was Pakistan’s seventh whitewash win in a five-match ODI series. Three of those seven have come against Zimbabwe.
8. Fakhar and Imam scored a mammoth 71.71 percentage of team run in the series. It is the highest for any team in an ODI series involving five or more matches.
The previous highest percentage was scored by the Windies openers Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge, who made 611 of the 1039 runs (58.80%) scored by West Indies batsmen in the series.
9. Pakistan’s opening pair added 704 runs in the series which is the second-highest by a pair in any ODI series.
Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga holds the record. They had added 800 runs batting together from nine innings in the 2011 World Cup.