Babar Azam, the Pakistani cricket captain, has become a record-breaking machine. Like India's Virat Kohli, whenever Babar scores big in any format, he ends up breaking some sort of record. In the recent Peshawar Zalmi vs Islamabad United PSL Eliminator 1, Babar Azam led the way with a stunning 39-ball 64 while opening the batting. This helped Peshawar eliminate two-time champions Islamabad with a 12-run victory in Lahore on Thursday.
Babar's fluent knock included 10 boundaries, and he scored at a strike rate of 164. This was Babar's fifth half-century in this PSL. The talismanic right-hander also became the fastest cricketer to reach 9000 runs in T20s, breaking Chris Gayle's record. Babar achieved this feat in 245 innings compared to Gayle's 249. The second on the list is Virat Kohli, who completed 9000 T20 runs in 271 innings, followed by Australia's David Warner (in 273 innings) and Aaron Finch (in 281 innings).
Babar has been in stellar form in the shortest format of the game in recent years. He has scored nine T20 centuries since 2019, the most by any cricketer in the world. The second-best is England's limited-overs captain Jos Buttler with six T20 tons.
Babar's innings on Thursday in the knockout match laid the foundation for Peshawar to post 183 for 8 while batting first. He put on 60 runs for the first wicket with opening partner Saim Ayub before the latter fell for 23 off 16 balls. Mohammad Harris's wonderful cameo of 34 off just 17 balls gave the much-needed push in the middle overs.
After Babar was caught by Shadab in the 13th over, Peshawar's performance took a nosedive, with the team losing five wickets and scoring only 46 runs in the last seven overs. However, the last five overs saw an impressive display of bowling skills by Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi, Faheem, and Mohammad Wasim, who conceded only four boundaries to Peshawar.
During the chase, Islamabad was dominating with a score of 128-1 after 14 overs, thanks to the impressive partnership between Sohaib Maqsood (60) and Alex Hales (57), which resulted in a century stand. However, the game took a dramatic turn when Peshawar's lesser-known pacers, Salman Irshad (2-18) and Aamer Jamal (2-36), stepped up their game and restricted Islamabad to a total of 171-6.
On Friday, Peshawar will face off against the defending champions, the Lahore Qalandars, in the second elimination game. The victorious team will advance to the rescheduled final against the Multan Sultans on Saturday. This is a crucial match for both teams, as they strive to secure their place in the final and claim the championship title.
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