Top 5 ODI knocks by wicketkeepers against Pakistan

The ongoing Pakistan-Afghanistan series has ignited new life into ODI cricket. The excitement of 50 overs cricket is back, which many cricket fanatics were supposedly missing amidst T20 leagues. Just prior to the World Cup, the bilateral series being played in Sri Lanka holds importance for both teams. 

Both the contests so far produced great rivalry between the two Asian sides. Afghanistan fought back with a thumping score of 300 on the back of a spectacular century from Rahmanullah Gurbaz. With this knock, Gurbaz placed himself as the highest individual scorer as designated wicketkeeper against Pakistan in this format. 

The swashbuckling Afghan opener has gone past some of the greats of modern-day cricket. Before his knock, the top position belonged to a certain MS Dhoni followed by McCullam,  De Villiers, and Bairstow. Let's look back at those top innings to cherish this occasion. 

5. Jonny Bairstow

England's wicketkeeper batter Jonny Bairstow made a scintillating hundred while chasing a mammoth score of 359 against Pakistan in 2019. Earlier in the game, Imam-ul-Haq put on a show with 151 runs and Pakistan posted 358 runs on the board.

Jonny decorated his 128-run score off 93 balls with eight boundaries and four sixes. Against a pace attack comprising Junaid Khan, Shaheen Afridi, and Faheem Ashraf he scored at a strike rate of 138. This was his seventh ODI hundred, a special one for him as it came after a gap of 15 innings. At the start of his innings, he took his time to settle down. 

He constructed his innings convincingly. He first put his foot forward against Junaid and then when spinners came and bowled short to him, his eyes popped out. He carried forward his spin game from the IPL and implemented it quite well. He reached the three-figure mark in 74 balls before getting out to Junaid Khan, by that time England was way ahead in the chase.