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KARACHI: Babar Azam etched his name deeper into the record books on Thursday, becoming the fastest batter in men’s T20 history to reach 12,000 runs, surpassing the long-standing mark held by Chris Gayle.
The milestone came during Peshawar Zalmi’s high-scoring Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 clash against Karachi Kings at the National Stadium.
Babar, who needed just 13 runs before the match, brought up the landmark in style by launching Khushdil Shah for a six over mid-on in the fourth over.
In doing so, the Zalmi skipper became the 12th player in men’s T20 cricket to cross the 12,000-run mark, joining an elite list featuring the likes of Kieron Pollard, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, David Warner and Shoaib Malik.
Babar reached the milestone in just 338 innings, bettering Gayle’s previous record of 343 innings, while Kohli sits third on the list, having taken 360 innings to get there.
Despite losing the record, Gayle continues to lead the all-time T20 run charts with 14,562 runs, followed closely by Pollard.
Babar Azam capped off his milestone performance with a dominant unbeaten 87, powering Zalmi to a formidable total of 246 for 3.
The bowlers then completed a comprehensive performance, skittling Karachi Kings for just 87 to seal a massive 159-run victory.
The emphatic win lifted Zalmi to second place on the PSL 11 points table, with three wins from their first four matches, further underlining their strong start to the campaign.
