Babar overtook England's Jos Buttler to take the lead with 264 runs, while Pakistan still has a match to play in the semi-finals.
Follow Us
Pakistan captain Babar Azam equaled the T20 World Cup record for most half-centuries in a single tournament on Sunday when he reached his 25th fifty in the ongoing match against Scotland in Sharjah. Babar reached the landmark in 40 balls, matching Matthew Hayden and Virat Kohli’s T20 World Cup record. Hayden, Pakistan’s batting coach in this tournament, was the first to hit four fifties in a T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007, a feat Kohli repeated in the 2014 edition in Sri Lanka.
Hayden and Kohli had both scored the most runs in the respective editions, with 265 and 319 runs from six games, respectively. Babar overtook England’s Jos Buttler to take the lead with 264 runs, while Pakistan still has a match to play in the semi-finals.
Behind Kohli (29) and his deputy Rohit Sharma, Babar has the third-most fifties in T20Is (27). Babar’s four fifty-plus scores in this T20 World Cup have come against India (68*), Afghanistan (51), Namibia (70), and Scotland (66). Babar, on the other hand, is the captain with the most 50-plus scores in T20 internationals, with this being his 15th. Kohli trails his Pakistani counterpart with 13 fifties as India captain, but he is ahead of Australia’s Aaron Finch (11) and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson (11).
With his 19th fifty of 2021, the 27-year-old also broke Virat Kohli’s record for the most fifties in a calendar year in T20 cricket. Kohli had 18 during his breakout year in 2016, with Chris Gayle (16 in 2012) and Mohammad Rizwan (15* in 2021) rounding out the top four.
Babar was eventually dismissed for 66 off 47 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes in the 18th over of Pakistan’s innings, which ended with a magnificent finish provided by all-rounder Shoaib Malik, who smashed 54 not out off 18 balls with 3 sixes in the final over to help the Men in Green reach 189 for 4 in 20 overs after electing to bat first.
Pakistan has already qualified for the semi-finals, but if they beat Scotland tonight, they will take first place in Group 2. They will also be the first team in this edition’s Super 12s to win all five games if they can defend 190.
Rishabh Pant's explosive last-over blitz ignites IPL 2024 amid T20 World Cup comeback talks
