Pakistan captain Babar Azam has been under scrutiny for his batting antics in the ongoing ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023.
The 29-year-old has scored 207 runs with an average of 34.50 and a strike rate of 79.00 in six World Cup matches. In an interesting stat, Babar has scored three fifties, all while batting first and his innings has the lowest strike rate among the batters with 50+ scores.
His innings against South Africa today came at a strike rate of 76.92. He faced 66 balls and made 50.
The No. 1 ranked batter scored at a strike-rate of 80.43 against Afghanistan while against India his strike-rate was 86.20.
On the other hand, emerging batter Abdullah Shafique is also on the list. He scored 58 off 75 balls with a strike-rate of 77.3.
Pakistan are currently playing South Africa in the 26th match of the ICC World Cup 2023 at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Friday.
By the time this story was filed, Pakistan were batting at 259-7 in 44 overs with Mohammad Nawaz (23*) and Shaheen Afridi (2*) still on the crease.
It must be noted that the Pakistan cricket team is on thin ice after losing three consecutive matches and a loss in today's match can end their hopes of playing the semi-final of the mega event. Meanwhile, South Africa are in a strong position with four wins in five games.
Earlier, Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and opted to bat in their World Cup match against in-form South Africa.
Teams
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Wasim, Haris Rauf
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (capt), Quinton de Kock (wkt), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi
- Babar Azam