DUBLIN: Pakistan captain Babar Azam equaled Indian batsman Virat Kohli’s record for highest fifty plus score in T20 cricket.
The right-handed batsman achieved the milestone while playing against Ireland in the first game of the three-match T20I series in Dublin on Friday.
Kohli scored 50 plus 38 times in 109 innings while Babar Azam equaled it in 108 innings to take the lead over Indian cricketers.
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The Pakistan captain scored 57 runs off 43 balls as he hit eight fours and a six in his powerful innings.
Ireland vs Pakistan 1st T20I, Live Score Updates
Ireland vs Pakistan 1st T20I, Live Updates: Helped by skipper Babar Azam’s 57 off 43 and Saim Ayub’s 45 off 29, Pakistan posted 182 for 6 against Ireland in the first T20I of the three-match series.
Iftikhar Ahmed’s brisk cameo of 37 not out off 15 also helped Pakistan’s cause at Clontarf Cricket Club Ground in Dublin, the venue for the game. For Ireland, Craig Young was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2 for 27 in his quota of four overs.
Playing XIs
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abbas Afridi
Ireland: Paul Stirling (c), Mark Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Barry McCarthy, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Ben White, Craig Young