It has been records galore at Queens Sports Park at Bulawayo today as Pakistani openers blasted the highest ever opening partnership for the 1st wicket. If that wasn’t enough, Fakhar Zaman galloped to the first ever double century for Pakistan in ODIs.
Racing past the record individual score by Saeed Anwar (194 against India), Fakhar Zaman brought up his 200 in style off 148 balls.
Batting first after winning the toss, openers added a record-breaking 304-run partnership as Imam ul Haq departed after scoring his 3rd ODI hundred.
Fakhar Zaman has now entered an elite club after smashing the double century as he became only the 6th batsman in ODI cricket history to score 200+ runs in an innings.
The 200 Club
These are the double centurions in the world cricket:
| Batsman | Runs | Team | Opposition | Strike Rate | Year |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 200* | India | South Africa | 136.05 | 2010 |
| Virender Sehwag | 219 | India | West Indies | 146.98 | 2011 |
| Rohit Sharma | 209 | India | Australia | 132.28 | 2013 |
| Rohit Sharma | 264 | India | Sri Lanka | 152.60 | 2014 |
| Chris Gayle | 215 | West Indies | Zimbabwe | 146.30 | 2015 |
| Martin Guptill | 237* | New Zealand | West Indies | 145.40 | 2015 |
| Rohit Sharma | 208* | India | Sri Lanka | 135.94 | 2017 |
| Fakhar Zaman | 210* | Pakistan | Zimbabwe | 134.61 | 2018 |
The left-handed opener reached the milestone in 148 balls. The quickest to reach 200 runs is the West Indian aggressive opener Chris Gayle who did it in 138 balls against Zimbabwe in 2015.
Balls taken to score 200 in Men's ODIs:
138 balls Chris Gayle
140 balls Virender Sehwag
147 balls Sachin Tendulkar
148 balls Fakhar Zaman today*
151 balls Rohit Sharma (twice)
152 balls Martin Guptill
156 balls Rohit Sharma— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) July 20, 2018
Fakhar has achieved the feat in just his 17th match, while all others who have scored a double ton had played more than 100 matches when then registered their 200.
Of 6 batsmen who have scored 200s in ODIs, Fakhar doing it in his 17th match is the least experienced player. All previous five – Guptill, Sharma, Sehwag, Gayle, Tendulkar – had played more than 100 ODIs before scoring double-century. #ZimvPak
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) July 20, 2018
Innings taken to score 200 in Men's ODIs:
17 Fakhar Zaman
103 Rohit Sharma
103 Martin Guptill
234 Virender Sehwag
261 Chris Gayle
431 Sachin Tendulkar— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) July 20, 2018
Fakhar Zaman carried the bat with 210* as Pakistan smashed its highest ever ODI score of 399-1. Fakhar’s 210* is the 5th highest individual score in ODI cricket history.
Highest individual scores in ODIs:
264 Rohit Sharma versus S Lanka in 2014
237* Martin Guptill versus W Indies in 2015
219 Virender Sehwag versus W Indies in 2011
215 Chris Gayle versus Zimbabwe in 2015
210* Fakhar Zaman today versus Zimbabwe#Cricket— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) July 20, 2018
Great, proud moment! 17!