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Peshawar Zalmi skipper Babar Azam scored 115 to help his side post a mammoth total of 240/2 on March 8 at Pindi Club Ground, Rawalpindi. While on paper a 115-run knock looks as good as any, former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull was not happy with Azam using up too many deliveries to get to his century.
After the 13th over, Babar’s score was 83 off 46 deliveries. Zalmi were dominating with 160 on the board already without losing a single wicket and his opening partner Saim Ayub going all guns blazing. Babar did not score a single boundary in the next two overs. In the 18th over, Azam played a dot delivery when he was batting on 99 (59 balls). He pushed a length delivery back to Naseem Shah.
Babar taking 13 balls to score 16 runs on a batting paradise despite playing himself in, irked former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull.
“Rather than putting the team first... the last little while, that's all that been happening. Rather than looking for boundaries, still so much firepower to come. Hundreds are brilliant, stats are great, but it has to be team first,” Doull said while commentating.
Babar got to his century with a boundary off the next ball from Shah. In the penultimate over, he hit Mohammad Hasnain for a six as well. The 28-year-old got run out in the next over after scoring 115 from 65 deliveries including 15 fours and three sixes. Even though he scored at a strike rate of 176.92, it was still the lowest among Zalmi batters.
Zalmi posted 240/2 on the board, a daunting total. However, it was not enough to stop a rampaging Jason Roy. The English opener created history with unbeaten 145 off 63 balls to guide Quetta Gladiators to victory with 10 balls to spare. It is the highest successful run chase in PSL history. He had help from Mohammad Hafeez as well. The former Pakistan skipper remained unbeaten for 41 off 18 deliveries.
Azam has often been criticised for his strike rate. In the previous game, he scored 50 runs from 41 deliveries while other looked to take the attack to the opposition. The criticism turned out to be well-directed in the end as Gladiators had a chance to post a score over 250 in the clash.
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