Old Pakistan captain Babar Azam became the second batter after the first century maker of fifties for the country to reach a 100-run mark on his 64-run knock against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy opener in Karachi on Wednesday, February 19. Babar took his centuries in international cricket to 31 across formats, and by doing this, he finished with a half-century score of situations between 50 and 99 at 100. However, it was not a knock that Babar would take pride in.
He rang up his half-centuries. The 2nd player from Pakistan to do so was Babar Azam in international cricket after former captain Inzamam ul Haq. Meanwhile, he took a place with the other one in international cricket, which was the milestone reached by the 21st player. Inzamam has 129 fifties in international cricket while Sachin Tendulkar sits at the top with 164 half-centuries in international cricket; both could achieve 150+ fifties, Kumar Sangakkara is the other, with his 153.
Most fifties for Pakistan in international cricket
129 – Inzamam ul Haq (1991-2007), in 499 matches
100 – Babar Azam (2015-2025*), in 314 matches
95 – Mohammad Yousuf (1998-2010) in 381 matches
93 – Javed Miandad (1976-1993) in 357 matches
84 – Misbah ul Haq (2002-2017) in 276 matches
There was Babar, the 35th ODI half-centurion, who took to the crease, starting with 64 runs already under wraps, that is, if you were looking at a run chase of 321 before another 11 runs went on first in Karachi against the Black Caps. Originally, it took Babar 81 balls to score 55 in his innings; it was a full 90 balls, and 52 of them were=dots. Yes, Pakistan would have needed some more accelerated contribution from the likes of Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, and Tayyab Tahir on a wicket that was turning and gripping at the National Stadium while they assembled the score in Karachi.
Pakistan scored just 22 runs in the powerplay while losing a couple of wickets and from then on, the hosts were always chasing the game after New Zealand put up an above-par score riding on twin tons from Will Young and Tom Latham while being accompanied by a rapid fifty from Glenn Phillips. Pakistan next take on India in a do-or-die clash on Sunday, February 23.
