WATCH: Babar Azam wins hearts as he gifts player of the match award to Khushdil Shah

Source: Twitter

Pakistan captain Babar Azam played an astonishing innings of 103 off 107 balls against the West Indies in the first ODI of the 3-match One Day Internations series on Wednesday (June 8). Chasing a target of 306, Pakistan lost their opener Fakhar Zaman early. Babar along with Imam-ul-Haq held the innings for Pakistan scoring some quick runs to set the stage for Akeal Hosein, who came in later in the chase.

After Babar's fine knock of 103, he was awarded the Player of the Match award. But the Pakistan skipper showed great character giving that award to teammate Khushdil Shah, who scored a quick fire 41 off 23 balls to take Pakistan over the line in the final over.

Notably, it was Khushdil Shah in the end who helped Pakistan to chase the huge target late in the end overs and Babar Azam was not shy to praise his teammate for impeccable knock of 41 (23).

Checkout the video here...

Beautiful gesture from the skipper @babarazam258 gives his player of the match award to @KhushdilShah_ #PAKvWI | #KhelAbhiBaqiHai pic.twitter.com/7BrSiV7TyL

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) June 8, 2022

"Outstanding finish from Khushdil. You have to take it deep so that there is less pressure on the finishers," said Babar Azam for Khushdil Shah's magical knock in the post-match presentation.

“The situation I was in, I tried to take it deep. I have been working on my hitting for the last two years. The coaching camp in the last 10-12 days has helped. The coaches have helped me during this time. I was waiting for the balls to come into my zone,” Khushdil said after receiving the award.

Captain Babar shared a 103-run partnership with Imam-ul-Haq (65) and a 108-run stand with Mohammad Rizwan (59) as Pakistan chased down a target of 306 in Multan to go 1-0 up in the three-match ODI series.

Earlier, West Indies opener Shai Hope went on to score his 12th century and bring up 4,000 ODI runs as West Indies look to dominate proceedings of the 1st ODI. Crucial Knocks from Shamarh Brooks powered WI to register a huge score of 305/8. Haris Rauf shined with the ball after picking up a 4-wicket haul.

Brief Scores: West Indies 305/8 (Shai Hope 127, Shamarh Brooks 70; Haris Rauf 4/77) lost to Pakistan 306/5 in 49.2 ovs (Babar Azam 103, Mohammad Rizwan 59, Khushdil Shah 41 n.o.; Alzarri Joseph 2/55)

With Bureau inputs