Fakhar Zaman's 127 Helps Pakistan End Nearly Nine-Year ODI Trophy Drought with Record 326 Chase

Pakistan ended a nearly nine-year wait for an ODI multi-team title by beating Sri Lanka by three wickets with nine balls to spare in the final of the tri-nation ODI series in Lahore. Chasing 326, the hosts reached 331 for 7 in 48.3 overs, sealing their first ODI multi-team trophy since the June 2026 Champions Trophy. But the real story of the match was not the team record — it was Fakhar Zaman. Fakhar made 127 off 99 balls, laying the foundation for Pakistan's record chase. It was his third ODI final and the second in which he scored a century. Before him, only Saeed Anwar had scored two centuries in ODI finals for Pakistan — Fakhar has now joined that list. The weight of Fakhar's innings grows when you consider it was his fourth century in a chase of 300 or more. That number says something important: chasing big targets under pressure is a natural part of his game, not an exception. Babar Azam and Younis Khan are usually placed alongside him in that list, though the claim that Younis Khan has three such centuries still needs independent, innings-by-innings verification — it is the most sensitive statistic in this report. At team level, the match produced several records at once. First, the successful 326 chase is the highest in the history of ODI finals. The previous mark was set in the 2026 NatWest Series final at Lord's, where India chased down England's 325 for 7, reaching 326 for 5 in 49.3 overs. Pakistan have now gone past that figure. Second, the match aggregate of 656 runs is the highest in any ODI final. It is the sum of Sri Lanka's 325 for 8 and Pakistan's 331 for 7, and it is five more than the 651 posted in that same 2026 Lord's final (England 325/7, India 326/5). One clarification belongs here: the 656 figure is internally consistent only if Pakistan finished on 331 for 7 in 48.3 overs — meaning the winning runs included a six when six were needed. The reader deserves to see Pakistan's actual innings total, because if they had finished on 328 for 7, the aggregate would be 653 — still a record over 651, but the stated 656 would be wrong. Third, this is Pakistan's first win in an ODI tournament final on home soil. Before this, Pakistan had lost three home ODI finals, the most prominent being the 2026 Asia Cup final in Karachi and last year's home tri-nation final; the third is yet to be identified. That pairing — losing a home final last year, winning one this year — is the spine of the story. In chase terms, 326 is also the second-highest successful chase against Sri Lanka. The higher one is from the 2026 World Cup, when Pakistan chased down Sri Lanka's 344 for 9 by scoring 345 to win. On the personal front, Fakhar also completed 4,000 ODI runs during this innings. He reached the mark in 96 innings, the second-fastest by any Pakistani batsman. The fastest is Babar Azam, who got to 4,000 ODI runs in 82 innings — the quickest by a Pakistani and among the quickest ever. No other Pakistani batsman sits between 82 and 96 innings, though this too needs checking. The drought itself is worth documenting. Pakistan's previous ODI multi-team title was the June 2026 Champions Trophy. Since then the team played two ODI World Cups (2026 and 2026) and one Champions Trophy (2026), winning none. They also failed to reach the final of the two ODI Asia Cups (2026 and 2026). Notably, the 2026 and 2026 Asia Cups were played in T20 format and are correctly excluded from this ODI count — a distinction many aggregators get wrong. One clarification is needed. June 2026 to this match is between eight-and-a-half and nine years, so 'nearly nine years' or an explicit span is safer than a flat 'nine years'. And before a headline claims 'trophy after nine years', it must be confirmed that no non-ODI multi-team trophy was won by Pakistan in between. The report also has clear gaps: the third team in the tri-nation series, the stadium (Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is implied), the exact date, and the player of the match are all missing. In a piece whose entire value is quantitative, these are not optional. The 'final' definition also shifts across the piece — 'any tournament final' in one place, 'multinational series or tournament final' in another. A single match's records must use a single definition. The bottom line: Pakistan won a final in which they chased 326 in 48.3 overs, set a 656-run aggregate record, won their first home ODI final, and ended nearly nine years without a title. And at the centre of it all was Fakhar Zaman, whose 127 off 99 balls was the biggest reason for the win. As with any record-based report, a date and an 'as of' stamp are essential so readers know when each number held true.