Babar Azam surpassed Ricky Ponting to set a new world record; achieves multiple milestone with his century vs NZ in 1st Test

After suffering a humiliating 3-0 whitewash at the hands of England at home, Pakistan are locking horns with New Zealand in a two-match series. The first test game is underway at the National Stadium, Karachi.

The hosts won the toss and decided to bat first. Pakistan had some struggles at the start, losing a few early wickets. They lost their first four wickets in the morning session of Day 1. However, after that, Pakistan had a brilliant partnership between skipper Babar Azam and former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed.

Both batters added a massive 196-run partnership for the fifth wicket to pull Pakistan out of trouble. However, Sarfaraz was unfortunate and got out for a score of 86 runs ahead of schedule at the end of Day 1. But Babar continued his form and went on to score a big century.

Pakistan ended Day 1 at 317/5, with Babar unbeaten on 161 with 15 fours and one six, and Agha Salman at 3 not out. During his inning, the Pakistan skipper broke multiple records. Firstly, Babar became the Pakistani batter with most runs in a calender year for his country along with most half-centuries.

Babar has scored 2584 runs in 2022 in all three formats and went past Mohammad Yousuf's record of 2435 runs in 2006. He also registered his 25th Fifty-plus score in 2022, which is also the highest by any batter in the game's history.

He went past former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, who had 24 Fifty-plus scores in 2005 across formats. However, Babar has also completed 1000 test runs in just nine tests and is only one of three batters to score 1000 runs in the longest format in 2022.

It was the 9th test century of his career for the Pakistani skipper. He gave a befitting reply to the critics who criticised him after a 3-0 whitewash against England. Meanwhile, the hosts will look to carry on the batting to post a big total in the first inning of the game.