Highlights
- Babar Azam scored 110* off 66 deliveries
- At a strike rate of 166.67, Babar hit 11 boundaries and 5 sixes
- Pakistan and England now have 1 victory each in the ongoing T20I series
PAK vs ENG, 2nd T20I: The greats don't stay down for too long, they always find a way to register an emphatic comeback. Questioning their capability only adds to their motivation and makes them work even hard. This is exactly applicable to Babar Azam who was in a whirlwind of criticism that revolved around his strike rate in the T20Is. Matters got even worst for Azam when he had a very dismal outing in the Asia Cup that was played in UAE.
Former Pakistan player Aqib Javed in particular was very critical of Babar's approach in the shortest format of the game and said that the Pakistan skipper ends up piling up the required run rate which puts a lot of pressure on the middle order and lower middle order. Certainly, the Pakistan skipper had all of these things playing on his mind. Come the second T20I, Babar had different ideas in his mind. Pakistan was reeling by 1-0 in the ongoing seven-match T20I series against England. English skipper Moeen Ali won the toss and elected to bat first. Courtesy of Moeen Ali (55 off 23 deliveries) and Ben Duckett (43 off 22 deliveries), England raced away to 199/5 at the end of 20 overs.
Pakistan openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan knew they had a job at their hands. The Pakistan skipper was pretty watchful at the start of the innings as he knew that the pressure around him, his batting, and his strike rate were constantly piling up. Rizwan on the other hand got off to a flyer. The Pakistan skipper, after he got his rhythm back, started smacking the English bowlers all over the park. Babar carried his bat with 110* to his name off 66 deliveries. Babar had a strike rate of 166.67 with 11 boundaries and 5 sixes to his name. The Pakistan skipper along with his compatriot Rizwan registered a partnership of 203 runs and Pakistan won the match by 10 wickets.
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Here is how Twitter reacted to Babar's brilliance:
Teams:
Pakistan XI: Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Haider Ali, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Usman Qadir, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Shahnawaz Dahani
England XI: Philip Salt(w), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali(c), Sam Curran, David Willey, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood
