Pakistan captain Babar Azam played the anchor role amidst a batting collapse in their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign opener against co-hosts USA. Babar scored 44 runs from 43 balls and became the leading run-scorer in T20I cricket surpassing India’s Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Babar has scored 4,067 runs from 120 games at an average of 41.08 including three centuries and 36 fifties. He is followed by Kohli who has scored 4,038 runs from 118 games at an average of 51.11 including one century and 37 half-centuries. Rohit is on the third spot with 4,026 runs from 152 games at an average of 32.20 including five centuries and 30 fifties.
Babar's Pakistan were put to bat first at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas. He managed to score just nine runs from 23 balls in the first nine overs. He got help from Shadab Khan who pushed the scoring rate in the middle overs. They shared a 72-run partnership for the fourth wicket. He hit his first six of the innings in the 12th over off Harmeet Singh. In the 16th over, he was dismissed lbw by Jessy Singh. He opted for the review but it went in vain. The 29-year-old hit three fours and two sixes in his crucial knock.
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After Babar's wicket, Iftikhar Ahmed's 14-ball 18 and Shaheen Afridi's unbeaten 16-ball 23 helped Pakistan post 159/7 on the board.
Three batters fighting for the top spot
Babar may get surpassed as leading run-scorer by Rohit or Kohli in the clash between India and Pakistan at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York on June 9. While Kohli departed for a single-digit score against Ireland on June 5, skipper Rohit scored 52 runs from 37 balls before he was retired hurt.
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