Pakistan skipper Babar Azam continued his fine run of form as he helped his side register their second win in as many matches in the ongoing tri-series in New Zealand which also featured against Bangladesh. After the 2009 T20 World cup champions started the tournament with a comfortable 21-run over Bangladesh, they continued their winning run on Saturday (October 8) against the hosts New Zealand.
In the second match of the tournament, Babar was the star of the show as the Men in Green registered an emphatic six-wicket victory with 10 balls to spare over the Black Caps at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. With Pakistan needing 148 runs to win, Babar ensured his side got over the line with an unbeaten knock of 79 in just 53 balls. He got valuable support from Shadab Khan who scored 34 runs in just 22 balls.
By virtue of his match-winning effort, Babar completed his 28th half-century in the shortest format. In the process, he joined Virat Kohli to become the quickest to reach the milestone. Both Virat and Babar took a total of 84 innings to achieve the unique feat in T20I cricket.
Babar also completed his 12th half-century in the shortest format of the game while chasing a score and equalled Rohit Sharma in the same list of most 50+ scores while batting second in T20I cricket. Only Kohli (19) and Australian opener David Warner are ahead of Babar and Rohit in the elite list.
Talking about the match, Haris Rauf was the star of the show for the Babar-led side with the ball as he took a three-wicket haul while conceding just 28 runs in his four-over spell. Mohammad Wasim Jr. took two wickets while giving away just 20 runs while Mohammad Nawaz also scalped two scalps but conceded a total of 44 runs.
