Fakhar Zaman All Set to Sail Past Kumar Sangakkara's Rarest Feat

image-lh60tlrvFakhar is in red-hot form vs New Zealand (AP Photo)

In the ongoing ODI series between Pakistan and New Zealand, Fakhar Zaman's bat has been doing a lot of talking. The 33-year-old is in explosive form this series and has amassed 297 runs in just 2 innings. The 2017 Champions Trophy hero has scored two back-to-back centuries (117 off 114 & 180 off 144) that have powered his side to a 2-0 lead.

With his blistering knock of 180 (144), Fakhar is now the fourth Pakistani batter to have scored three consecutive ODI centuries. Fakhar's dream run commenced when he scored his first century against the BlackCaps in their proceeding ODI series. 

There have so far been only 12 instances where a batter has scored three consecutive hundreds in ODI cricket. The legendary Sri Lankan batter Kumar Sangakkara was the only one to score 4 back-to-back ODI centuries. He achieved this extraordinary feat in the 2015 Men's World Cup where he notched up a century each against Bangladesh, England, Australia and Scotland. 

With Fakhar appearing in red-hot form, Pakistan's only ODI double centurion has a golden opportunity of making it four on the trot this Wednesday. 

The Pakistan skipper Babar Azam had all praise for Fakhar Zaman and was mighty impressed with how the opener went about constructing a match winning innings for his side last Saturday. 

"It is one of the best innings I have seen, 20-30 runs too many we conceded. But the way Fakhar built his innings, and the partnerships we had one after the other was the key."

Furthermore, Fakhar also admits that he has matured as a player and has evolved his game plan over the years.

"I try to take some time at the start in one-day cricket. Every player works hard on his game at this level and same with me."

Both teams will now head to Karachi for the third ODI which is expected to kick off this Wednesday at 4:00 PM local time. With Pakistan 2-0 ahead in the series, they cannot afford to get complacent and allow New Zealand to crawl their way back into the series.