Peshawar opener Sahibzada Farhan scripted history in Multan on March 21, hours after Pakistan's record-breaking victory over New Zealand in Auckland. Farhan scored an unbeaten 162 off 72 balls against Quetta in National T20 Cup to break the record for highest score by a Pakistan batter in T20s.
The previous record for the highest score in T20s belonged to Kamran Akmal. For Lahore against Islamabad in Rawalpindi, Kamran scored an unbeaten 150 from 71 balls in 2017.
Highest individual T20 scores by batters
Sahibzada's unbeaten 162 is now the joint third-highest score in the format. The top spot belongs to legendary Chris Gayle who scored 175 not out for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) against now-defunct Pune Warriors in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013. Australia's T20 World Cup-winning captain Aaron Finch holds the record in T20Is with 172 off 76 balls against Zimbabwe in 2018.
Sahibzada shares the third spot with Zimbabwe's Hamilton Masakadza, Afghanistan's Hazratullah Zazai and South Africa's Dewald Brevis. Masakadza scored 162 not out from 71 balls for Mountaineers against Eagles in 2016. Afghan opener Zazai scored 162 not out against Ireland in 2019. Proteas batter Brevis took just 57 balls to score 162 for Titans against Knights in 2022.
Big win for Peshawar
Peshawar lost the wicket of opener Waqar Ahmed early in the innings for a 12-ball 15. After that Maaz Sadaqat played second fiddle for Farhan. The opener's record-breaking 162 was studded with 14 fours and 11 sixes. Sadaqat got retired hurt after scoring 54 runs from 38 balls. Peshawar post 239/1 on the board.
Quetta top-order batter batters could not put up a fight in the run chase. After Haseebullah Khan's wicket, there was no intent. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 18 runs from 13 balls. Lateefullah managed to score just five runs from 11 balls. Captain Abdul Bangalzai managed to score 56 runs from 47 balls. Mohammad Ibrahim was not in good form either and faced 18 balls to score 11 runs. Off-spinner Usman Tariq claimed a four-wicket haul whereas left-arm spinner Nizar Ali struck thrice as Quetta were bowled out for 113 from 19.3 overs. Peshawar won the match by a huge margin of 126 runs.
Farhan's purple patch
Farhan has been in sublime touch in the ongoing tournament. From four games, he has scored 414 runs at an average of 207, including two centuries and as many half-centuries. His strike rate is 189.90.
Farhan's T20I numbers
Farhan made his T20I debut in 2018 against Australia. He has been in and out of the side. The last time he played for Pakistan was on Zimbabwe tour in 2024. So far, he has scored 86 runs from nine innings at an average of 9.55. His highest T20I score is 39 which came against Australia in Dubai. He failed to prove his mettle in the T20I series against New Zealand and Australia last year.