Pakistan's white-ball captain Babar Azam added another feather to his cap during the fourth and final T20I of the series against England at Kennington Oval in London on Thursday, May 30.
Babar Azam became the second batter after Team India's talisman Virat Kohli to complete 4000 runs in the history of T20I cricket. Azam needed just 13 runs to join former Indian captain in this elite list. Since the third T20I between England and Pakistan was washed out due to rain in Cardiff, Babar Azam couldn't complete the milestone then.
However, the Pakistan captain managed to score the required runs to achieve this historic feat in the final match of the T20I series against England in London. Babar Azam competed the feat by hitting two consecutive fours off Chris Jordan in the fourth over of Pakistan's batting.
Most runs in T20Is
Virat Kohli - 4037* (117 matches)
Babar Azam - 4002* (118 matches)
Rohit Sharma - 3974* (151 matches)
Paul Stirling - 3589* (142 matches)
Martin Guptill - 3531 (122)
Babar Azam scored 23 runs in the second T20I in order to inch closer to the milestone in the shortest format of the game. In the fourth T20I, Azam opened the batting with Mohammad Rizwan after Saim Ayub was dropped from the playing XI.
Babar Azam was looked in good touch but his innings came to an end after he was dismissed for 36 by Jofra Archer at 59/1.
Pakistan bundled out for 157 in first innings
Pakistan were bundled for 157 in 19.5 overs in the first innings against England in London.
After Babar Azam's dismissal, Pakistan lost four wickets in Mohammad Rizwan (23), Fakhar Zaman (9), Shadab Khan (0) and Azam Khan (0) for just 27 runs and they were reduced from 59/1 to 86/5. Usman Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed's crucial 40-run partnership helped in reviving the visitors' batting until the former was dismissed for 38 at 126/6.
Shaheen Afridi was removed in quick succession at 126/7. Iftikhar Ahmed's stay at the crease ended after he was dismissed for 21 at 145/8. Naseem Shah played a couple of useful shots in the lower order of the batting line-up, scoring 18 off 16 balls before he was dismissed at 149/9.
Pakistan's innings eventually came to an end when Haris Rauf was run out by Liam Livingstone for 8, concluding the innings at 157 all out in 19.5 overs.
