LONDON: Pakistan captain Babar Azam on Thursday, became only the second batter to complete 4000 runs in T20Is.
Babar achieved the landmark in the fourth T20I against England when he scored his 13th run. He joined India’s batting star Virat Kohli on the elusive list, who has 4,037 runs in the shortest international format.
The right-handed batter scored a blistering 36 off 22 with the help of five fours and a six.
Most runs in T20Is
Virat Kohli- 4,037
Babar Azam – 4,023
Rohit Sharma – 3,974
Paul Stirling – 3,589
During the ongoing T20I against England, Babar Azam also became the first captain to score 2,500 runs in the format.
Earlier, England captain Jos Buttler won the coin toss and put Pakistan into bat first.
With young left-handed opener Saim Ayub dropped, Pakistan captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan opened the innings for the touring side.
The decorated opening pair provided a solid start to Pakistan, adding 59 runs for the first wicket before Babar fell victim to Jofra Archer on the final delivery of the batting powerplay.
Babar smashed five fours and a six on his way to a 22-ball 36.
Rizwan was quick to follow as he was cleaned up by Adil Rashid in the next over. He scored 23 off 16 deliveries with the help of three boundaries.
Coming as Saim Ayub’s replacement, Usman Khan then put together a brief partnership with Fakhar Zaman, who fell in the ninth over after scoring a run-a-ball nine.
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Pakistan then lost two more wickets in quick succession as Shadab Khan and Azam Khan both perished for ducks.
The touring side was 91/5 in 10.4 overs when the on-field umpires decided to stop the proceedings and the covers were brought on.
Notably, the first and third T20I of the ongoing four-match series between Pakistan and England were also washed due to rain.
England lead the four-match series 1-0 as Jos Buttler and bowlers led them to a convincing 23-run victory in the second T20I.
The ongoing four-match T20I series between Pakistan and England, scheduled to run from May 22 to 30, is a final opportunity for both sides to gear up for the T20 World Cup 2024 as the previous edition’s finalists will skip the warm-up matches for this year’s mega event.
PLAYING XIs
England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (c), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam (c), Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Azam Khan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah.
READ: Saim Ayub dropped as Babar-Rizwan opening pair returns