Pakistan are currently busy playing the T20I tri-series in New Zealand. However, they won the tournament opener against Bangladesh on 7 October 2022. Then, they took on New Zealand on 8 October in Christchurch. The Men in Green were looking to continue their momentum while the Kiwis were looking to kick off with a win.
However, Pakistan managed to win the game by six wickets while chasing 148 runs. Skipper Babar Azam scored a match-winning knock of 79* runs as they won the match convincingly. However, after this inning, Babar Azam shattered another huge record in the shortest format of the game.
Babar Azam managed to accomplish three records in his inning against the Kiwis
In the Asia Cup, Babar Azam failed to score at his level best. He scored only 68 runs in six matches, at an average of 11.33. Then, he scored a magnificent ton in the second T20I against England in their home series. Now, he came up with another match-winning knock against the Kiwis.
After this knock, Babar scored his 28th fifty in the T20I format. He smashed those cities in 84 innings, the same as the former Indian skipper Virat Kohli. However, while chasing, it was Babar Azam’s 12th fifty. Hence, he is now the joint third-highest along with Rohit Sharma. Only Kohli (19) and Warner are ahead of him. Apart from these records, his 11 fifties among those 12 came in a winning cause.
Therefore, he equalled the record with Australia’s David Warner. Now, only Virat Kohli has more fifties (15) in such instances. Speaking about the match, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first. The Kiwis scored 147 runs for eight wickets in 20 overs. Mark Chapman scored 32 runs off 16 balls, including three fours and two sixes. He batted at a strike rate of 200. In reply, Pakistan chased the target down with 10 balls ad six wickets to spare. Skipper Babar Azam scored 79* runs off 53 balls, including 11 fours. He also won the player of the match award for his match-winning contribution.