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| A century answer to the strike rate brigade? Yes! can say |
Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 38 runs in the second T20I to take a two-nil lead in the series.
In the match, captain Babar Azam scored his third T20 century while Haris Rauf took four wickets this time as in the previous match.
On being declared the best player of the match, Babar said that first Rizwan supported him and then Iftikhar. He further said that he settled in the middle first and tried to make a good total by playing aggressively at the end. He said that with the fall of wickets, the pressure increases and it is not so easy to score runs.
The third match of the five-match series will be played in Lahore on April 17. While the remaining two matches will be played in Rawalpindi.
Babar Azam's third T20I century of his career
In this second T20 International played in Lahore, captain Babar Azam once again won the toss and was elected to bat first.
After the failure of the openers in the first match, the opening pair of Babar with Mohammad Rizwan scored good runs. The 99-run partnership between the two was broken when Matt Henry's nippy bowling forced Rizwan to play a poor shot in the 11th over. He was caught out after scoring a half-century off 34 balls.
With Fakhar Zaman coming in at number three, Henry fell victim to the first ball. The ball hit his bat and hit the stumps. Thus again Henry got a chance to score a hat-trick. But Saeem Ayub successfully defended this last ball of his over.
Sime, the hero of the first match, was dismissed for zero this time. His catch off Richan Ravindra was caught by Nesham near the boundary.
In Neesham's 13th over, Imad Wasim was caught out by wicketkeeper Latham after scoring two runs.
With the loss of four wickets in three overs, the pressure increased on the Pakistani batsmen, but Iftikhar Ahmed supported Babar Azam at the crease to stabilize the batting. Both the duo played tight till the last ball and made a partnership of 87 runs.
Babar hit a boundary on the last ball of the innings to complete his third T20 century. The 58-ball century included three sixes and 11 fours.
The moment Babar completed his century and celebrated it emotionally:
While Iftikhar scored 33 runs off just 19 balls by hitting three sixes and one four.
On the other hand, the Kiwi bowlers could not stop the flow of runs despite coming back in the middle of the match. Henry took two wickets while Ravindra and Neesham took one wicket each.
Thus, the Pakistan team scored 192 runs for the loss of four wickets in the first innings.
Kiwi batsman again failed to chase a big target
The Kiwi batsmen got off to a slightly better start this time around with openers Top Latham and Chad Bowes scoring 43 runs in the powerplay.
Shadab Khan gave Pakistan their first win when Latham was caught on the back foot and LBW off a skidding ball in the seventh over.
In the very next over, Chad Bose was bowled by Imad Wasim's inside ball. Now there were two new Kiwi batsmen at the crease in the form of Will Young and Mark Chapman.
A partnership of 33 runs was established between the two. Haris Rauf, who took four wickets in the first match, gave Pakistan an important breakthrough in his second over. Young was caught at long off by Shadab.
Chapman was the only Kiwi batsman to stay on the wicket till the end but his 65 proved insufficient.
New Zealand scored 154 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the second innings.
Haris Rauf once again took four wickets. While Imad, Zaman, and Shadab got one wicket each.
The answer to the strike rate brigade? Yes! can say
After the match, broadcaster Zainab Abbas asked captain Babar Azam, "Is this century his answer to the 'strike rate brigade'?"
So he laughed and said, "Yes, you can." After completing the century, Babar celebrated it emotionally.
He further said that the strike rate is absolutely under consideration. But in every match, the situation is different and important. Staying inside is important. In the last five overs, I also played at a strike rate of 200.
On the criticism of the strike rate, the Pakistani captain said, "I don't care about these things." I know that if I dominate myself, there will be pressure. I do as much as I understand, yes there is always room for improvement.
He says that 'in every situation, you have to have a plan.' He laughed and said that the team also has to go together and the strike rate too.
Former cricketer Bazid Khan opined on this that 'When Babar does not score runs, then the news is made. From this, you can gauge their consistently good performance.
With this win, Babar Azam has become the second most successful captain in T20 International cricket.
He has led Pakistan to 42 victories in 68 matches as captain. The list also includes Afghanistan's Asghar Afghan with 42 victories and England's Eoin Morgan with 44 victories.
Babar's winning average as captain is 66.66 percent, according to the website Cricinfo.
Meanwhile, Babar has scored the second-most century in T20 cricket. With a total of nine centuries, he has come second. While West Indies Chris Gayle is on top with 22 centuries.
As a captain, Babar has scored the most centuries (three) in T20 International cricket.