Pakistan enjoyed a successful evening at Rawalpindi on Sunday as the Men In Green defeated Zimbabwe by 69 runs to storm into the final of the ongoing T20I Tri-Nation series. The team put a clinical show in both departments as star batter Babar Azam, opener Sahibzada Farhan, skipper Salman Agha and hat-trick hero Usman Tariq etched their names in the record books.
Pakistan piled a massive 195/5 batting first, which featured half-centuries from Sahibzada (63 in 41 balls, with four 4s and three 6s) and Babar Azam (74 in 52 balls, with seven 4s and two 6s). Team's seasoned batter Fakhar Zaman also made vital contribution with his quickfire 27* in 10 balls, including a four and three maximums.
The half-century by Babar also saw him get on level terms with Virat Kohli for most fifties in T20Is. Both batters have slammed 38 fifties each and Babar now have the upper hand considering Kohli has already retired from the format.
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Meanwhile, Babar has three centuries in T20Is, Virat has one. In addition to this, Babar is already ahead of the Indian legend in terms of fifty-plus scores in T20Is, having registered his 41st fifty-plus score, as compared to Virat, who has a total of 39 fifty-plus scores (including his one century).
Sahibzada, on the other hand, registered his 16th fifty-plus score of 2025 (four centuries and 12 fifties), the most by a batter in this calendar year, outdoing Austria's Karanbir Singh (two centuries and 13 fifties).
Skipper Salman Agha, who stayed unbeaten on 1*, made a record for featuring in the most international matches in a year. This was his 54th international outing this year, as he overtook India legend Rahul Dravid's tally of 53 matches back in 1999. In these 54 outings, Salman has scored 1,492 runs at an average of 31.74, with two centuries and eight fifties and a best score of 134. He has also taken 11 wickets at an average of over 63.
Salman's most prolific format with the bat this year is ODIs, having scored 667 runs in 17 matches and 16 innings at an average of 47.64, with two centuries and three fifties. His best score is 134. In T20Is, Agha has scored 548 runs in 32 matches and 30 innings at an average of 23.82, with four fifties, with an underwhelming strike rate of 113.22.
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Zimbabwe in response managed 126 before losing all ten wickets as Ryan Burl (67* in 49 balls, with eight 4s and two 6s) staged a lone fight.
Spinner Usman Tariq (4/18) took a hat-trick, removing Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa and Wellington Masakadza in the 10th over. Usman became the fourth player to take a hat-trick for Pakistan in T20Is, joining the company of Faheem Ashraf (vs Sri Lanka in 2017), Mohammed Hasnain (vs Sri Lanka in 2019) and Mohammed Nawaz (vs Afghanistan this year). Usman also walked away with the 'Player of the Match' award.
-with ANI inputs
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