Babar Azam’s third T20I hundred put Pakistan in a commanding position after he opted to bat in Lahore. The Pakistan skipper added 99 with Mohammad Rizwan, before the wicketkeeper was dismissed in the 11th over. Babar, though, continued in the same vein, reaching his half-century off 36 balls. He upped the ante thereafter, slamming 51 runs off the next 22 balls. Haris Rauf then broke New Zealand’s back in the chase, picking up the wickets of Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham and Rachin Ravindra.
Babar completed his century off the ultimate ball of the innings, clobbering James Neesham for two fours and a six in the last over to notch up a 58-ball ton. Notably, he is the solitary Pakistan batter with more than one hundred in the format. The brilliant century puts Babar close to the zenith of the list of batters with most T20I tons. Rohit Sharma, with four T20I hundreds to his name, possesses the crown. Interestingly, both Babar and Rohit have 33 50+ scores in the format, next best only to Virat Kohli, who has attained the half-century landmark on 38 occasions.
Supreme pace bowling from the speedster ✨#PAKvNZ | #CricketMubarak pic.twitter.com/BgHB8h5HGC
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) April 15, 2023
