Pakistan vs England, 2nd T20I Stats Review: Babar Azam’s feat, Opening partnership record, and other stats

Pakistani skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan silenced their critics in style as the former struck his second T20I century while Rizwan smashed 88 with the Men in Green registering their highest opening stand to chase down the target of 200 against England in the second match in Karachi. The pair shared an unbeaten opening partnership of 203 to seal the deal for the hosts by ten wickets margin and level the seven-match series 1-1.

Talking about how the clash panned out, captain Moeen Ali won the toss and opted to bat first. Openers Philip Salt and Alex Hales made 30 and 26 respectively while Dawid Malan bagged a golden duck. Ben Duckett looked solid for his 22-ball 43 which included seven fours. Harry Brook struck 31 off 19 but it was skipper Moeen who took the Pakistani bowlers to the cleaners. He played a whirlwind knock of 55 which came in just 23 deliveries with the help of four fours and as many maximums. The visitors reached a huge total of 199/5 with Shahnawaz Dahani and Haris Rauf picking up two scalps each.

Chasing 200, it was just one-way traffic as Babar hit form in an emphatic way. The classy right-handed batter amassed 110* off just 66 with 11 eye-catching fours and five maximums. His opening partner Rizwan continued on his merry way in this format as he scored 88* off 51 with five fours and four sixes. Pakistan scripted their third-highest successful run-chase and also the best opening stand ever in T20Is. The partnership also turned out to be the highest ever while chasing in the 20-overs format. With this, the hosts level the series with five more games to follow. For his spectacular return-to-form century and captain’s knock, Babar Azam won the Player of the Match award.

 Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from the 2^nd T20I between Pakistan and England:

1 – Babar Azam became the first Pakistani batter to smash two centuries in T20 internationals. Mohammad Rizwan and Ahmed Shehzad have both hit one ton each in the format.

10 – Babar has now hit the most hundred (10) as Pakistan captain in international cricket. He surpassed Inzamam-ul-Haq’s tally of nine centuries.

203* – Rizwan and Babar shared the highest opening partnership of 203* while chasing in T20 internationals. The previous highest of 197* was also between the same pair which came against South Africa in Centurion in 2021.

203/0 – Pakistan registered their third-highest successful run-chase of 203/0 in T20Is. Their top two run-chases of 208/3 and 205/1 came in 2021 against West Indies in Karachi and South Africa in Centurion respectively.

2 – For the second time, the Men in Green scripted a victory by a ten-wicket margin in the shortest international format. The other instance came against India last year in the T20 World Cup in Dubai.

2 – Babar is now tied with Rohit Sharma at the top for slamming most tons (2) as captain amongst the full-members in T20Is.

0/49 – Luke Wood has now conceded the most runs (0/49) for England against Pakistan in a T20I innings. Tom Curran and Matt Parkinson had leaked 2/47 and 0/47 in the same match in Nottingham in 2021.

8089 – Babar reached the landmark of 8000 runs in T20s. He became the second Pakistani player after Shoaib Malik (11902) to achieve the feat.

2 – Run-machine Babar is now also the second-fastest to 8000 runs in all T20s. He reached the feat in 218 innings while Chris Gayle remains on top for achieving it in 213 innings.

13 – Babar and Rizwan have now shared 13 50-plus partnerships which are the joint-second with Kevin O’Brien and Paul Stirling. India’s pair of KL Rahul and Rohit occupies the top spot for 14 such stands.