Babar Azam hammers his 97th T20 half-century, second in BBL
What's the story
Pakistan cricket star Babar Azam led the Sydney Sixers to a stunning six-wicket victory over the Melbourne Renegades in their latest Big Bash League (BBL) clash. The match, played at Marvel Stadium, saw Azam score an unbeaten 46-ball 58. His performance was instrumental in helping the Sixers chase down a target of 165 runs, providing a crucial win amidst their challenging start to the season. This was Babar's 97th half-century in T20 cricket. Here we look at his stats.
Knock
Babar's performance amidst early struggles
Chasing 165 in the game, the Sixers were off to a fine start with openers Babar and Daniel Hughes (30) adding 46 runs. The Pakistani star got another potent partner in Moises Henriques (23) as the duo took the team score past 100. A quick-fire innings from Joel Davies (34 not out off 15) then helped the Sixers chase down the total with five balls to spare. Babar played the second fiddle in an unbeaten 51-run stand with Davies.
Campaign
Babar's second fifty of the season
Babar smashed four fours and a maximum en route to his 58* from 46 balls. He struck at a decent 126.09. This was his second half-century of the tournament, having previously scored 58 versus Sydney Thunder. However, his other three outings in the season resulted in single-digit scores. Playing his maiden BBL season, the Pakistan ace has raced to 129 runs at an average of 32.25. His strike rate of 117.27 needs some improvement.
Career
Babar now owns 108 fifty-plus scores in T20s
Having played 333 T20 matches (322 innings), Babar has completed 11,665 runs at an average of 42.72 (SR: 128.89). This was his 97th fifty in T20s. He also owns 11 tons. Notably, the Pakistan star owns the best average among batters with at least 9,000 T20 runs. In terms of T20 hundreds, Babar is only behind West Indies's Chris Gayle, who owns a record 22 tons in the format.