Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan smash record knocks against South Africa

KARACHI:  Pakistan captain Babar Azam and batsman Mohammad Rizwan created records for themselves after berating South Africa in the 3rd T20I at Centurion.

The Men in Green chased a target of 205 comprehensively with 12 balls remaining and for the loss of just one wicket to ensure one of the most memorable run-chases for the country.

The team score of 205/1 is Pakistan’s best in T2OIs after 205/3 vs West Indies at Karachi in 2018.

Babar Azam scored 122 and became the third Pakistani to score a T20I century. He and Mohammad Rizwan hit 197 runs for the first wicket which is Pakistan’s highest first-wicket partnership in the shortest format of the game.

This is also the highest partnership for any wicket in T20I run chases by any team. Previously, the record was with Matin Guptil and Kane Williamson who had scored 171* against Pakistan at Hamilton in 2016.

It is also the highest partnership for any wicket in T20Is against South Africa.

Babar’s inning of 122 is the highest individual total by a Pakistani batsman in T20Is after Ahmed Shahzad who had scored 111. This is also the highest individual score by any batsman against South Africa. The score is jointly second highest in T20I run chases after 125* by West Indian Evin Lewis against India in 2017.

The Pakistani captain was playing the 48th inning of his T20I career and with a score of 122, he took his total run aggregate to 1916 which is the most by any players in the initial 48 innings of his career. The record was previously with India’s Virat Kohli who had amassed 1852 runs in the initial 48 innings of his career.

The 26-year-old batsman has 18 scores of 50 or more, including one century, which is also the most scores of 50 or more by a batsman from the initial 48 innings of their career.

Meanwhile, the wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan remained not out with an individual score of 73 — this was Rizwan’s 3rd half-century in run-chases, the greatest number of half-centuries by a Pakistani batsman while chasing a target.