Babar Azam has been marked as one for the future. And he represents one of those recent experiments that have clicked for Pakistan cricket.

Originally, an opening batsman, he scored a bucketful of runs at the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in 2010, 298 runs to be precise, to be Pakistans leading run-scorer in the competition.

And thrust into the big stage last year against Zimbabwe, the lad from Lahore conjured some consistent scores and had five half-centuries to show from 15 ODIs.

But that big one remained elusive, the closest Azam came being the 83 against New Zealand in Auckland at the start of this year.

That was about to change, though. And he couldnt have picked a better setting to do it. The iconic Sharjah Cricket Stadium, tucked away in Sharjah and witness to many epics, was celebrating a landmark 225 ODIs.

Pakistan's bowlers back up Babar Azam's maiden ODI hundred to win the 1st #PakvWI ODI by 111 runs (DLS Method): https://t.co/WqRczMgbAw pic.twitter.com/KgxqLqaa0L

ICC (@ICC) September 30, 2016 Babar Azam's 120 guides Pakistan to 284/9 in the 1st #PakvWI ODI. Will West Indies be able to chase their target? https://t.co/WqRczMgbAw pic.twitter.com/Bkf5Hn3wtu

ICC (@ICC) September 30, 2016 And Azam joined in the celebrations with his maiden ODI hundred in the first ODI against the West Indies. His well compiled 120, on Friday night, is by no means the highest at this ground, but it set the stage for Pakistan to rack up a competitive total.

Pakistans 284, which was sandwiched between two delays one minor just before the start of play (with sawdust being called for before a ball was bowled) and another major one because of one of the floodlights going off, proved to be more than a handful for the West Indies.

The target was revised to 287 in 49 overs and the West Indies were well short of it, being bundled out for 175 in 38.4 overs, to give Pakistan a 111-run win (D/L method).

West Indies frailties against left-arm spin reared up once again with Mohammed Nawaz snapping a career best 4 for 42. The 22-year-old from Rawalpindi had just three wickets from five matches before this.

Pacer Hasan Ali took 3-14. Marlon Samuels waged a lone battle for the West Indies with 46.

With this win, Pakistan not only went 1-0 up in the three-match series, but they also registered the second most number of ODI victories after Australia, who have 547 wins. Pakistan were level with arch-rivals India with 454 wins, prior to this game.

Azams stellar knock came after his embattled captain Azhar Ali had gone for a first ball duck, poking at one from Shannon Gabriel to be gobbled by wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin.

Azam and the other opener Sharjeel Khan overcame that early hiccup to move cautiously before the latter unleashed an array of strokes to blunt the West Indies attack.

Southpaw Sharjeel set the tone as the pair put together 82 for the second wicket. But Sharjeel fell after making his third ODI half-century and his departure created a bit of a wobble with veteran Shoaib Malik too following suit.

Sarfraz Ahmed joined Azam and the latter found in Pakistans new T20 captain, an able ally, the ideal wingman. As Azam inched towards his landmark, Sarfraz kept his younger partner busy with some quick singles and doubles, owing to the traditionally slow outfield here.

The duo had strung together 99 runs for the fourth wicket but Sarfraz was to leave, edging West Indies captain Jason Holder to Ramdin, after making 35.

There were small partnerships between Azam and Imad Wasim and then Wasim and Mohammad Nawaz after the centurions knock had come to an end, brilliantly caught by Kieron Pollard.

Pakistan were nudging towards a 300 total but one of the floodlight towers blinked and lost power with the hosts on 260 for 6 in 44.3 overs. Wasim was on 21 and Nawaz on five.

A burnt cable was said to be the reason and that meant play was held up for 70 minutes with the players going off the field.

If Pakistan couldnt come out to bat because of the lost time, West Indies would have had to chase 283 in 44 overs. But Pakistan managed to finish their innings after the lights were restored and play resumed with it being 49 overs a side. And they ended up with 284 for 9 in 49 overs.

The West Indies were then left to chase a revised target of 287 in 49 overs.

Scoreboard Pakistan Azhar Ali c Ramdin b Gabriel 0

Sharjeel Khan c Narine b Benn 54

Babar Azam c Pollard b Brathwaite 120

Shoaib Malik c Benn b Narine 6

Sarfraz Ahmed c Ramdin b Holder 35

Mohammad Rizwan run out 11

Imad Wasim b Carlos Brathwaite 24

Mohammad Nawaz c Holder b Brathwaite 19

Wahab Riaz run out 0

Mohammad Amir not out 3

Hasan Ali not out 2

Extras: (1b, 3lb, 5w, 1nb) 10

TOTAL: (for 9 wickets) 284

Overs: 49.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-82, 3-93, 4-192, 5-211, 6-239, 7-269, 8-269, 9-281

Bowling: Shannon Gabriel 8-0-53-1 (1nb 2w), Jason Holder 7-0-35-1, Carlos Brathwaite 10-0-54-3, Sulieman Benn 10-0-46-1, Sunil Narine 10-0-58-1 (1w), Kieron Pollard 4-0-34-0 (2w)

West Indies

Johnson Charles c Ahmed b Amir 20

Kraigg Brathwaite c Ahmed b Hasan Ali 14

Darren Bravo b Nawaz 12

Marlon Samuels b Riaz 46

Denesh Ramdin c Azhar Ali b Nawaz 8

Kieron Pollard c Sharjeel Khan b Nawaz 9

Jason Holder b Wasim 1

Carlos Brathwaite b Nawaz 15

Sunil Narine c Wasim b Hasan Ali 23

Sulieman Benn not out 16

Shannon Gabriel b Hasan Ali 2

Extras: (6lb, 2w, 1nb) 9

TOTAL: (all out) 175

Overs: 38.4.

Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-41, 3-54, 4-89, 5-99, 6-103, 7-125, 8-135, 9-166, 10-175

Bowling: Imad Wasim 8-0-36-1, Mohammad Amir 5-1-21-1, Hasan Ali 5.4-0-14-3, Wahab Riaz 6-0-27-1 (1nb), Shoaib Malik 4-0-29-0 (2w), Mohammad Nawaz 10-0-42-4.

Result: Pakistan won by 111 runs on D/L method.

Toss: West Indies.

Umpires: Ahsan Raza, Pakistan, and Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sri Lanka.

TV umpire: Sundaram Ravi, India. Match referee: Andy Pycroft, Zimbabwe.

Note: West Indies target was revised to 287 in 49 overs on Duckworth/Lewis method after play was suspended for 80 minutes due to power failure.

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