Babar joins greats with record start

Pakistan's Babar Azam has become the joint-fastest player in history to score 1,000 career runs in one-day international cricket, equalling a record that was first set 37 years ago.

Babar moved to 1,000 career runs when he reached 47 not out against Australia in Perth today, the 21st innings of his career.

He joins West Indies great Sir Vivian Richards, England pair Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott as well as South Africa's Quinton de Kock in reaching the milestone in 21 innings.

The 22-year-old entered the series needing 114 runs in the first two matches to reach 1,000 runs in 20 innings and break the record that was first set by Richards way back in 1980.

But after managing scores of just 33 and 34 in the opening two games, it ensured that Richards and co would not be knocked off their perch and maintained the legendary West Indian's status as an outlier in the record books of the one-day game.

Richards remains the only 20th century player to hold a record as the fastest to a milestone of 1,000 runs in ODI cricket, a form of the game that has transformed dramatically since the turn of the millennium.

The record for the fastest to every run milestone of 2,000 runs onwards has been set since 2001, with South Africa's Hashim Amla the fastest to each milestone between 2,000 and 6,000 and Sachin Tendulkar holding every record from 10,000 runs onwards.

A regular part of the ODI side since his debut against Zimbabwe in 2015, Babar had played a handful of promising knocks before he enjoyed a breakout series against the West Indies last October.

The cousin of ODI squad member Umar Akmal, Babar peeled off scores of 120, 123 and 117 against the Windies in the space of eight days, becoming just the second player after de Kock to amass three hundreds in a three-match series.

His tally of 360 runs for the series was also a record and helped to propel him into the Test side for the first time.

But having started with an innings of 69 on debut and then a defiant unbeaten 90 against New Zealand last November, Babar will enter Pakistan's next Test assignment with an average of just 27 after managing just 68 runs in their Test series defeat earlier in the summer.

Fastest to 1000 ODI runs

21 innings - Sir Viv Richards (West Indies)

21 innings - Kevin Pietersen (England)

21 innings - Jonathan Trott (England)

21 innings - Quinton de Kock (South Africa)

21 innings - Babar Azam (Pakistan)