Pakistan put on another impressive show with the bat in the second T20I against the West Indies at Karachi on Monday.
Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and elected to bat first and his decision was vindicated as the hosts put runs on the board in their 20 overs.
Batting stalwart Babar Azam led the way for Pakistan with a sublime unbeaten 97 as they crossed the 200-run mark for the second day in a row. West Indies were bowled out for 123 as Pakistan won the match by 82 runs and took a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Here, we analyse the performance of the Pakistan star in depth.
STATISTICS
RUNS SCORED: 97
BALLS FACED: 58
BOUNDARIES: 13
SIXES: 1
STRIKE-RATE: 167.24
30-SECOND REPORT
Coming in to bat in the second over at the fall of Fakhar Zaman’s wicket, Azam took no time settling in as he toyed with the West Indies attack. The right-handed batsman formed a 119-run second wicket stand with Hussain Talat and remained unbeaten as he fell short of a maiden T20I ton by just three runs. He looked at ease throughout his stay, finding boundaries at will to fire Pakistan to their highest T20 score.
GOT RIGHT
Unlike the first T20I where he threw away a good start, Azam made the most of an inexperienced West Indies bowling line-up. He found boundaries at regular intervals and rotated the strike effectively to keep Pakistan’s run-rate hovering around 10.
I’ve said this before, will reiterate, Babar Azam is a special batsman. Doesn’t go big unnecessarily, plays those traditional shots but plays with balance.
— Roha Nadeem (@RohaNadym) April 2, 2018
GOT WRONG
The 23-year-old hardly put a foot wrong in his innings, looking at home as the runs continued to flow off his bat. The only gripe, if any, is Azam was unable to get four runs off the last two deliveries of the innings to complete what would have been a glorious century.
KEY MOMENTS
GETS INTO HIS ZONE EARLY
The Pakistan man got into the groove early in his innings as he targeted Rayad Emrit in the fourth over of the day. He crashed three of the initial four deliveries to the boundary fence, setting the tone for both him and Pakistan.
DROPPED CATCH
Azam had raced away to 78 with a six off medium-pacer Kesrick Williams. The very next ball, he top edged a low full toss in perhaps his only false shot of the day. However, he was given a reprieve as Samuel Badree made a mess of the chance at square-leg.
MISSES TON BY A WHISKER
Going into the final over batting on 89, Azam moved into the nineties with a double off the first delivering before finding the fence off the next one. He could only find a single in the third delivery but Shoaib Malik made sure to get him back on strike for the penultimate delivery. With four runs to get off two balls for a dream century, Azam could only make one with the Karachi crowd up on its feet in anticipation.
So close yet so far! @babarazam258#PAKvWI pic.twitter.com/K8ruE0y4OF
— Rai M. Azlan (@Mussanaf) April 2, 2018
VERDICT – 9.5/10
This was an innings unlike any other we have previously seen from the Pakistan batsman in T20 cricket. He found his range instantly and then gave no respite to the bowlers for almost 18 overs of the match. A century would have been the icing on the cake for the batsman but take nothing away, it was one of the best innings by a Pakistan batsman in T20 cricket.
Babar Azam 53.15 is highest batting average in T20I!!
Highest Average (min. 500 Runs)
53.15 – BABAR AZAM
50.84 – V Kohli
45.45 – KL Rahul
40.20 – A Finch#PAKvWI #ApnaKhelApneGhar @babarazam258— Farhan Nisar (@farhanwrites) April 2, 2018
