Pakistan captain Babar Azam is closing in on another record after bagging the Player of the Match award during the second T20I against New Zealand on Saturday in Lahore.
Azam scored 101 runs in 58 balls, with the help of 11 fours and three sixes, at a strike-rate of 174.13 which helped his side take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
The prolific batter now has nine Player of the Match awards during his T20I career, so far, which is only two short of teammates Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan.
Most T20I Player of the Match awards for Pakistan:
11 – Mohammad Rizwan (82 games)
11 – Shadab Khan (89 games)
11 – Shahid Afridi (98 games)
11 – Mohammad Hafeez (119 games)
9 – Babar Azam (101 games)
It must be noted that Pakistan won the second T20I by 38 runs courtesy Azam’s brilliance with the bat and pacer Haris Rauf’s four-wicket haul.
Chasing a target of 193 runs, the Kiwis were restricted to 154-7 in 20 overs.
The home side leads the series 2-0 bearing in mind the fact that they won the first T20I on Friday by 88 runs at the same venue.
Eight Kiwis are missing because of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and skipper Kane Williamson has a bad knee injury, leaving the captaincy to batsman Tom Latham — and providing plenty of opportunity for newcomers to shine.
The remaining three T20 matches are on April 17 in Lahore, and 20 and 24 in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan and New Zealand will also meet in five one-day internationals after the T20 series, honing preparations for this year´s 50-over World Cup in India.
The tour comes as something of compensation for New Zealand pulling out of their visit to Pakistan on the day of the first game in September 2021, citing security concerns.
The Black Caps played two Tests and three ODIs in Pakistan just three months ago.
- Babar Azam