Fakhar Zaman scores Pakistan's fastest World Cup century

Fakhar Zaman Saturday scored the fastest World Cup century by a Pakistan batter during his side's match against New Zealand in ICC's 10-team tournament.

Pakistan's stylish batter managed to score 100 runs in 63 balls at a strike rate of 157.81.

"It has been an easy breezy fluent century. It has been extraordinary innings and he has provided the early impetus that Pakistan requires," ESPN said in its live commentary about Fakhar during the match.

Chasing a mammoth 402-run target, Pakistan suffered a setback when opener Abdullah Shafique was dismissed for a meagre four runs after playing nine balls.

But Fakhar stood his ground and got support from skipper Babar Azam, who did not disappoint and has lived up to the moment so far.

The captain, who has not been below par in this World Cup, is also nearing his half-century. Babar is at 47.

The rain stopped the play as Pakistan remain at 160/1 — 10 runs ahead of the DLS score.

After winning the game against Bangladesh earlier this week, the opener said he had no regrets about missing out on a World Cup hundred, for he knew how important it was to try and boost their net run-rate in the match.

Fakhar led Pakistan’s chase with a freewheeling 81, which earned him player-of-the-match award, but fell short of a hundred trying to wrap up their chase early.

“The situation we were in at that moment, we were looking to chase it in 28-29 overs,” the 33-year-old, whose form and knee injury kept him out Pakistan’s first five matches, told reporters.

“So that’s why I was just going (after the bowlers).

“Otherwise, it was very easy for me to get to the 100 after 50. But our goal was to achieve the target within 29-30 overs.”