Pakistan captain Babar Azam returned to form with a brilliant 158, his highest one-day international score, against England played at the Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old top-ranked batsman played the biggest innings by any Pakistani in an ODI as a captain. Babar Azam clinched another honour, as he became the first Pakistani captain to score a century in England after 38 years.
Before him, [Prime Minister] Imran Khan had hit a century in Leeds in 1983.
During Tuesday’s day-night match, he played superbly and made a record-breaking 158 runs.
The star batsman also made a record of the longest ODI partnership of 179 runs with Muhammed Rizwan against England.
With his ton, Azam also became the only Pakistani cricketer to hit three ODI hundreds. Saeed Anwar, Fakhar Zaman and Imamul Haq had hit two centuries each on English soil.
Teams
England: Phil Salt, Dawid Malan, Zak Crawley, James Vince, Ben Stokes (capt), John Simpson (wkt), Lewis Gregory, Craig Overton, Brydon Carse, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imamul Haq, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wkt), Saud Shakeel, Sohaib Maqsood, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf
Babar Azam Optimistic About Winning ODI Series Against England
Earlier, Babar had said it was a bad day for him and his team. “Unfortunately, it was a bad day for us. England bowlers bowled really well and credit goes to them,” he said.
“As I said, it was a bad day, we will sit together and plan what went wrong. In the next game, we will try to overcome our weaknesses and come up strongly,” he had added.
He further added: “I will sit with the boys to give them confidence. I will tell them ‘Ghabrana Nahi Hai [Don’t ger worried]. We will bounce back inshallah,” Azam had concluded.
After England’s previous squad tested positive for Coronavirus, Azam was asked if his side thought of calling off the trip, he said: “No, we didn’t think about it, it didn’t come into our minds at any time.”
