It took South African batsman Hashim Amla more than a year to register a century in One-Day Internationals (ODI). Playing against Pakistan in the first ODI, the right-handed batsman scored unbeaten 108 off 120 deliveries. And on Enroute to his century, he broke Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli’s record. Pakistan vs South Africa 2018-19 Schedule & Time Table in IST & PKT: List of T20Is, Tests & ODI Matches; Full Fixtures with Match Timings of PAK vs SA Series

It was 27th ODI century for Amla and he now is the fastest batsmen to reach the said number hundreds in ODIs. Previously, Kohli held the record as he completed 27 ODI centuries in 169 innings. Amla completed the milestone in 167 innings.

However, Amla’s innings was not enough to save South Africa from losing the opening ODI. In fact, his knock of 108 was termed as ‘selfish’ by some of the cricket followers. South Africa at one stage were looking set to post a total of over 280. However, some great bowling by Pakistan towards the end made things difficult for Amla and co batsmen and all South Africa could manage was 266/2 in 50 overs.

Amla, who finished unbeaten, ended with a strike rate of 90.00 despite spending considerable time at the crease. Amla could muster on seven fours and a six throughout his knock. Not just Amla, Rassie van der Dussen too played a slow knock of 93 off 101 balls. Having faced over 100 balls, both the batsmen failed to accelerate towards the end.

Here’s how Twitterati reacted to Amla’s knock:

Pakistan then chased down the target with five balls and as many wickets to spare to go one up in the five-match ODI series. Opener Imam ul Haq scored 86 while Babar Azam made a significant contribution of 49 runs. It was Mohammad Hafeez who helped Pakistan cross the line with an unbeaten knock 71.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 20, 2019 04:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).