Pakistan captain Babar Azam returned to form with a record-breaking 158, yet once again found himself on the losing side as England made a clean sweep of the One Day International series 3-0 at Edgbaston on Tuesday.
His highest score at this level saw Azam become the fastest player to score 14 centuries in men’s ODIs as the 26-year-old reached the milestone in 81 innings – three less than South Africa’s Hashim Amla.
He shared a 179-run partnership with Mohammad Rizwan, which is the record for Pakistan’s partnership against England in ODIs.
Yet despite a total of 331/9, Pakistan suffered a three-wicket defeat even after England’s James Vince posted his maiden international century.
Azam, who is at the top of the ODI batting rankings, was back in the runs after scores of 0s and 19s in the first two matches, but it did not take the lead in this upset.
“We started well but were sluggish in the field. We will learn from our mistakes,” he said.
While Azam is no stranger to international hundreds, it took six years for Vince to make his first registration on the world stage.
The 30-year-old Hampshire captain last scored three points for his country in the 50th innings with 102 runs across all three formats.
Still, with a new squad, Vince was only called up by England a few days before the series opener, as all those originally selected were forced to self-isolate after a coronavirus outbreak within the 50-over world champions camp. Had to separate.
“I didn’t miss this moment, but this time last week I didn’t expect it at all,” said Vince, who made his England debut in May 2015.
“I wasn’t sure it was going to come. I’ve played many games and didn’t get there for England, but scoring a century for my country was one of my dreams. I’ll never forget it.”
Several first-choice players from England are expected to be recalled while announcing their squad for the upcoming Twenty20 series against Pakistan on Wednesday.
However, many of their Test batsmen struggled in the recent 1-0 series loss to New Zealand.
But Vince’s modest Test average of 24.90 shows how the talented shotmaker has often dismissed himself by playing loose strokes.
“I’m not going to start thinking that from now on I should be on a plane in the Ashes or all squads,” he said.
“I know the opinion on my career is that I started but didn’t make a big contribution: opinion is like that because that’s what happened.
“But hopefully this will give me confidence and some other people as well. It might help me move forward today.”
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