1st T20I: Babar Azam's 82 off 55 guides Pakistan to a 6-wicket win against Zimbabwe

Ranked 2nd in the world among T20I batsman, just below England’s Dawid Malan, Pakistan captain Babar Azam is arguably the best contemporary batsman in the shortest format. And he keeps proving this statement again and again with his performances, the latest one being in Rawalpindi during the 1st T20I against Zimbabwe.

With the help of Babar Azam’s 82 off 55, Pakistan registered a 6-wicket win (with 7 balls remaining) at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday, November 7. Zimbabwe had posted a total of 156/6 after their 20 overs and Pakistan (157/4) chased it down on the penultimate delivery of the 19th over.

Despite losing the ODI series to the hosts, as they lost the first two matches of the 3-match ODI series, Chamu Chibhaba’s Zimbabwe stepped in to the T20I series fresh from their win in the 3rd ODI. Zimbabwe caused an upset against Pakistan in the 3rd ODI as pacer Blessing Muzarabani stunned the hosts in the Super Over and took away the game from Babar Azam’s Pakistan.

On Saturday, Chamu Chibhaba won the toss and



opted to bat first at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. However, the captain soon lost his wicket for a duck and his opening partner Brendan Taylor could only manage a 13-ball 20 before falling to the T20 sensation Haris Rauf.

It was in fact Zimbabwe’s No.4, Wesley Madhevere, who took Zimbabwe to a total of 156/6 in 20 overs. The right-handed middle-order batsman added 70 runs in 48 balls and remained unbeaten despite the regular fall of wickets on the other end. Wahab Riaz went for the big runs but still managed to bag 2 wickets, same as Haris Rauf but the youngster still managed an economy rate of 6.25.

Chasing a target of 157, Fakhar Zaman (19 off 12) was the only Pakistani wicket to fall in the Powerplay. Despite the 2nd wicket of Haider Ali (7 off 8) in the 8th over, Babar Azam continued to fire and his partnership with Mohammad Hafeez added 80 runs to the 3rd wicket partnership. By the time the wickets of Babar and Hafeez fell, Pakistan were already well set on their road to victory and Khushdil Shah hit the winning runs for Pakistan within 18.5 overs.