True to their nature of pulling off surprises every now and then, the one Pakistan has aced tonight is ready to be carved in gold in the cricket history books, and it resultantly forced the fans to shake their heads in awe with a quirky smile.
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In a day marked by records being made and broken in Hyderabad, the biggest one of them all is that the Babar Azam-led side has broken the record for the highest-successful run-chase in the 48-year-old history of ICC ODI World Cups during the ongoing 13th edition of the same.
It was as many as 31 years ago when Pakistan had previously accomplished their highest run-chase in a World Cup match, breaking their record in some style this time around against a team they have never lost to ever in the tournament.
Pakistan Had Never Chased More Than 263 In World Cup Before
It was during the first semi-final of the 1992 Benson & Hedges World Cup in Auckland when a 22-year-old Inzamam-ul-Haq had helped Pakistan chase down a 263-run target set by co-hosts New Zealand with 4 wickets in hand and six balls to spare.
Accomplishing their highest successful run-chase in World Cups back then, the Imran Khan-led side had stormed into the grand finale for the first time in tournament’s history. Inzamam, who is Pakistan team chief selector at present, had smashed a 31-ball half-century during the clash and returned back scoring a match-winning 60 (37) with the help of seven fours and a six.
Pakistan’s highest successful run-chases in ODI World Cup matches:
| Target | Against | Ground | Year |
| 345 | Sri Lanka | Hyderabad | 2023 |
| 263 | New Zealand | Auckland | 1992 |
| 250 | England | Karachi | 1996 |
| 245 | England | Karachi | 1987 |
| 242 | New Zealand | Manchester | 1999 |
Pakistan Break Their 31-Year-Old Record In Hyderabad
During the recently concluded eighth match of ICC World Cup 2023 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Pakistan chased down a daunting 345-run target set by Asia Cup 2023 runners-up Sri Lanka with six wickets in hand and ten deliveries to spare.
‘Player of the Match’ Mohammad Rizwan (131*) registered a career-best ODI score at a strike rate of 108.26 to play a significant role in not only helping his side register the highest-successful World Cup run-chase triumph, but also their second-highest successful chase in the format and the highest by any team against Sri Lanka. He was assisted equally well by Abdullah Shafique (113), who smashed his maiden ODI century and proved to be a perfect replacement of Fakhar Zaman at the opening slot.
Moreover, Rizwan’s score on the day also becomes the highest-ever for a Pakistan wicket-keeper in ODIs and the second-highest in ODI World Cups, with Imran Nazir at the top with his score of 160 versus Zimbabwe during a 2007 World Cup match at Kingston.
The previous highest successful run-chase in ODI World Cups was registered by Ireland against England during ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in Bengaluru, where Kevin O’Brien (113) had humbled the Andrew Strauss-led side by chasing down their total of 327/8 with three wickets in hand and five balls to spare.
Highest successful run-chases in men’s Cricket World Cup:
| Team | Target | Against | Ground | Year |
| Pakistan | 354 | Sri Lanka | Hyderabad | 2023 |
| Ireland | 328 | England | Bengaluru | 2011 |
| Bangladesh | 322 | West Indies | Taunton | 2019 |
| Bangladesh | 319 | Scotland | Nelson | 2015 |
| Sri Lanka | 313 | Zimbabwe | New Plymouth | 1992 |
As for Sri Lanka, this has been their third- consecutive crunching defeat in the format within a month. While they were handed a 10-wicket defeat by India after being bundled out at the score of 50 during Asia Cup 2023 final, South Africa plundered their bowlers next by registering the highest-ever team total in a World Cup match – 428/5.
However, their No. 3 batter Kusal Mendis (122) yet again made sure to not let go of the purple patch of form he’s been experiencing of-late, as he smashed a 65-ball century, the fastest-ever by a Sri Lankan batter in World Cups. His effort had helped Sri Lanka register their third-highest total (344/9) in the tournament history.
