PAK vs NZ: Pakistan star batter and captain Babar Azam made his 3rd T20I hundred against New Zealand last night. The 2nd T20I of the five match series was played Lahore and was also Azam’s 101st T20I match for Pakistan. His hundred helped Pakistan take a 2-0 over a second string New Zealand. With his 3 hundreds, Babar now is one behind Indian captain Rohit Sharma who tops the list with 4 T20I hundreds. Five batters including Babar are now tied at the 2nd position with 3 hundreds. In terms of fifties however, Babar and Rohit are tied at the 2nd position with 33 scores of 50 or more, behind Virat Kohli, who has 38 fifty plus scores. Follow PAK vs NZ LIVE updates with InsideSport.IN
Only Rohit Sharma (4) has scored more T20 international hundreds than Babar Azam (3). But Babar has played 44 innings fewer. #PAKvNZ pic.twitter.com/y2Ovgq6zl7
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) April 15, 2023
PAK vs NZ Highlights: Babar Azam’s ton, Haris Rauf’s four-wicket haul help Pakistan win 2nd T20I vs New Zealand – Watch Highlights
Babar Azam takes Pakistan home
The Pakistan skipper put on a 99-run opening stand with Mohammad Rizwan, before the wicketkeeper was dismissed in the 11th over of the innings. Matt Henry, fresh off a hat-trick last game, sent back Fakhar Zaman’s next ball to dent Pakistan further. Babar, however, continued in the same vein, getting to his half-century from 36 balls. He stepped on the pedal thereafter, slamming 51 runs off the next 22 deliveries, including 36 runs off the last three overs.
He completed his century off the final ball of the innings, smashing James Neesham for two fours and a six in the last over.
It helped Pakistan to 192/4 from their 20 overs, and the hosts went on to restrict their opponents to 154/7. He shared an unbeaten 87-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Iftikhar Ahmed (33 not out off 19 balls) to lead Pakistan’s surge in the late overs.
The 58-ball ton was Babar’s third T20I ton. Notably, he is the only Pakistan batter with more than one hundred in the format. The hundred puts Babar close to the top of the list of batters with the most T20I tons.