With Pakistan suffering a mini-batting collapse in the powerplay against co-hosts United States of America (USA) on Thursday, premier batter Babar Azam steered the ship for the Green Army with his crucial knock in match No.11 of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The onus was on Babar after USA bowlers reduced the 2009 champions to 26-3 in the powerplay. Putting up a fight for the Green Army in their T20 World Cup opener, Babar not only top-scored for Pakistan but the superstar batter also shattered Virat Kohli’s T20I record.
Staging Pakistan’s fightback against the United States bowlers, Babar played a crucial knock of 44 to help his side recover from a precarious position. Though Babar scored the most runs for his side, the Pakistan skipper was trolled by fans for his ‘Test match’ knock. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, several fans lambasted Babar for scoring 44 off 43 balls in the T20I encounter. Babar faced the wrath of the fans for batting at a strike rate of 102.33 against the co-hosts in Dallas.
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Babar breaks Kohli’s T20I record
However, Babar surpassed Kohli to become the all-time leading run-getter in the history of T20I cricket. Babar is the third batter to accumulate 4,000 runs in T20Is. The Pakistan skipper has 4067 runs in 120 matches while Kohli has scored 4038 runs in 118 games for the 2007 world champions. Former world no.1 batter Babar smashed two sixes and three fours in his 43-ball 44 against the US. Babar was dismissed by Jasdeep Singh in the 15th over of the Pakistani innings.
What happened in Pakistan vs USA T20 World Cup clash
Easing the pressure off the Green Army, all-rounder Shadab Khan played a quick-fire knock of 40 off just 25 balls. Shadab and Babar’s contrasting knocks powered Pakistan to 159 for seven in 20 overs. Talking more about the match, USA’s Nosthush Kenjige emerged as the pick of the bowlers for the hosts. The USA star picked three wickets and leaked 30 runs in his four overs. “We are pretty pleased to restrict them to 155 on this wicket, it is a pretty good wicket. We know they are a dangerous side but we believe in our abilities and it is good that it reflected on the ground, the bowlers executed the plans perfectly,” Kenjige said.
