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On the opening day of the much-talked-about Pakistan's Champions One-Day Cup, former skipper Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi went up against each other. Babar shrugged off poor form to score 76 runs from 79 deliveries. He would have gone on to score a century had it not been for Afridi. The left-arm pacer who is also the captain of the Lions took the responsibility to dismiss Babar and succeeded.
In the 35th over of the innings, the left-arm pacer came around the wicket and bowled a slower short ball. Babar was beaten by the pace but went for the pull shot anyway. The ploy worked as he was caught by Faisal Akram on the boundary. After taking the wicket, Afridi pointed to the sky and then flexed his left bicep to celebrate.
Playing in Faisalabad, Afridi bagged a couple of wickets and conceded 63 runs from his quota of 10 overs. His other wicket was Stallions' skipper Mohammad Haris who scored 55 runs from just 36 balls to push the scoring rate in the slog overs.
Babar’s return to form
Earlier, there were reports of rift between Babar and Afridi. Babar, who managed to score just 64 runs in the Test series against Bangladesh, scored 76 runs from 79 deliveries including nine fours. Under Haris' captaincy, he walked in to bat at no.3. After Test skipper Shan Masood fell, Babar shared a 114-run partnership with Tayyab Tahir.
Two quickfire fifties after Babar’s wicket
Tahir scored 74 runs from 72 balls including seven fours and a couple of sixes. Haris and Hussain Talat took advantage in the slog overs. While Haris smashed four fours and as many sixes, Talat remained unbeaten for 33-ball 50. Jahanad Khan contributed with an unbeaten 11-ball 20 cameo as Stallions posted 336/5 after opting to bat first. After Babar's wicket, Stallions scored 148 runs from 15.3 overs.
Imam, the lone warrior for Lions
In the run chase, Lions lost three wickets for just 22 runs in six overs. Opener Imam-ul-Haq lacked support from the other end as Sharoon Siraj (28), Khushdil Shah (19) and Aamer Yamin (22) failed to make a mark. Imam was the eighth to fall. The left-handed batter scored 78 runs from 83 balls including six fours and a six. Shaheen hit a couple of sixes to entertain the crowd but became one of three victims of pacer Haris Rauf. Lions were bowled out for 203 from 39.3 overs and lost the match by a big margin of 133 runs.
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