Babar Azam Century Archives

Babar Azam’s maiden LPL ton lifts Colombo Strikers to edge Galle Titans

PALLEKELE: Babar Azam scored his maiden Lanka Premier League (LPL) century and powered Colombo Strikers to a thrilling seven-wicket victory over Galle Titans.

Set to chase a massive 189, the Strikers completed the pursuit on the penultimate delivery for the loss of three wickets, courtesy of a sensational century by Babar Azam.

Strikers’ openers Babar and Pathum Nissanka scripted a solid start to the pursuit as they added 111 runs before Tabraiz Shamsi drew a much-needed breakthrough for the Titans by dismissing Nissanka.

Nissanka scored an anchoring 54 off 40 deliveries, laced up with five boundaries and a six.

Babar Azam was then joined by Nuwanidu Fernando at the crease and the pair knitted a vital 55-run partnership for the second wicket.

The second-wicket stand was massively dominated by Babar while Fernando batted cautiously before falling to Shamsi in the 18th over. He could score eight off 13.

Despite Babar Azam’s blitz, the high-scoring encounter came right down to the wire with the Strikers needing 14 off the final over.

Kasun Rajitha, set to defend 14, bowled a fuller delivery outside off and Babar Azam holed it straight to the long-off fielder.

He smashed eight boundaries and five sixes on his way to a 59-ball 104.

The Strikers, with their mainstay back in the hut, looked in deep trouble but Mohammad Nawaz smashed Rajitha for a six and a boundary to seal the deal for the Strikers with one ball to spare.

Shamsi led the bowling attack for the Titans with 2/27 while Rajitha made one scalp.

Earlier, after opting to bat first, the Titans put on a commendable total of 188/3 in the allotted 20 overs at the back of a brilliant half-century by Tim Seifert and opening batter Shevon Daniel’s 49.

Seifert top-scored for the Titans with an unbeaten 54 off 35 deliveries, hitting four boundaries and three sixes. Whereas, Daniel scored 49 from 31 deliveries with the help of five boundaries and two sixes.

Besides them, Lasith Croospulle (36 off 19) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (30 off 31) made notable contributions.

For the Strikers, Naseem Shah, Ramesh Mendis and Lakshan Sandakan picked up one wicket apiece.

A close seven-wicket victory lifted Colombo Strikers to the third in the LPL standings with four points in as many matches while the Titans remained at the second spot due to a superior net run rate.

READ: Inzamam-ul-Haq named Pakistan team’s chief selector for second time

Babar reveals reason behind his lively century celebration

LAHORE: In a befitting response, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has answered the unnecessary criticism aimed at him regarding his strike rate in the T20 format, first with his actions followed by his words.

Babar smashed a phenomenal ton during Pakistan’s 38-run victory in the second T20 international against New Zealand on Saturday in Lahore.

He scored 101 runs from 58 balls, marking his third century in the shortest format, to help his side take a 2-0 lead in the five-game series.

Pakistan’s captain reached the three-digit mark on the final delivery of Pakistan’s inning and after reaching his century he celebrated the feat in a passionate manner.

In a post-match interview, Babar was asked by the presenter Zainab Abbas whether his animated celebration was aimed at the ‘strike-rate brigade’ who unnecessarily criticise him.

“You can say so,” quipped Babar with a hearty laugh on his face.

“But I don’t keep these types of things in my mind. I play according to the situation and build my innings according to the team’s requirement,” he added.

Pakistan skipper reiterated that for him, winning matches for the country was far more important than personal milestones.

“I’m not too worried about personal milestones. I’m focused on performing in a way that I can help my team win. The team comes first and then milestones,” he said.

“But from an individual perspective, you can say this was a special hundred.”

It may be noted here that the right-hander smacked 11 boundaries and three sixes during his blistering knock to steer Pakistan to a massive 192-run total.

New Zealand in reply, could only amass 154/7 in their quota of 20 overs thanks to Haris Rauf’s consecutive four-for in two matches.

The Green Shirts next play the tourists on April 17 at the same venue before the final two matches in Rawalpindi on April 20 and 24.

READ: PAK v NZ: Imad rates Babar’s knock ‘top of the line’

Babar Azam sets various records with his century against Australia

KARACHI: Pakistan’s top batter and skipper Babar Azam has claimed several records to his name with a fighting century-knock against Australia under pressure.

With Babar’s most recent hundred, which came against Australia on the fourth day of the ongoing Karachi Test. The right-handed batter became only the third captain in the history of cricket to score a hundred in all three formats.

Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan and former South African captain Faf du Plessis were the first two captains to achieve this feat.

With his unbeaten century in the run chase against Australia, Babar has also become only the second batter in the history of world cricket to score a hundred in each format while chasing. India’s KL Rahul was the first batter to achieve this milestone.

The right-handed batter has also broken Younis’s record of the highest score by a Pakistan batter in the fourth innings. Younis scored 171* against Sri Lanka in Pallekele in 2015.

The ninth-ranked Test batter has tumbled Michael Atherton’s all-time world record of the highest score by a captain in the fourth innings (185) as Babar is currently unbeaten 187.

Furthermore, Babar has now surpassed Shoaib Malik’s record of playing the longest innings by a Pakistan batter in the fourth innings of a Test in terms of balls faced.

He has faced 371 balls so far in his gritty innings, while the previous best was Shoaib facing 369 deliveries.

With Babar’s splendid 228-runs partnership with Abdullah in the run chase against Australia. The pair have recorded the second-highest partnership in the fourth innings of a Test match in Asia. Pakistan’s Shan Masood and Younis Khan hold the record of the highest partnership with their 242-runs stand against Sri Lanka in 2015.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan need 148 more runs in 24 overs to seal the highest run chase in the history of Test cricket.

READ: Paula Badosa keeps Indian Wells WTA title defense on track