SA vs PAK: 7 major records Babar Azam shattered with his maiden T20I century

Pakistan captain Babar Azam smacked a glorious century against South Africa in the third T20I of the four-match series on Wednesday, the same day he was crowned as the world’s no.1 ODI batsman. Babar’s 122 runs off 59 balls helped Pakistan chase a record target of 204 runs in only 18 overs.

The visitors have now taken a lead of 2-1 in the series. Apart from Babar, the other opener Mohammad Rizwan also made a useful contribution of 73 (47). Earlier in the first innings, the Proteas scored 203/5 with fifties from Janneman Malan and Aiden Markram.

Let’s look at all the big records broken by Babar with his T20I hundred against South Africa:

1 – Babar’s score of 122 is the highest by a captain in a T20I chase. The only other century by a captain in a chase belongs to Paras Khadka (106*) of Nepal.

49 – The Pakistan captain reached the three-figure mark in only 49 balls. This is now the fastest T20I hundred for Pakistan surpassing the earlier record held by Ahmed Shahzad (58 balls).

1 – Babar now holds the record for the highest individual score for an Asian captain in a T20I match. He has gone past Rohit Sharma, who slammed 118 runs off 43 balls against Sri Lanka in 2017 while leading the Indian team.

197 – Babar added 197 runs for the first wicket with Mohammad Rizwan in this game. This is the highest ever partnership by a pair in a T20I chase.

15 – The Pakistan opener hit 15 fours and four sixes in his scintillating knock. Only Aaron Finch has hit more fours (16) in a T20I innings.

2 – Babar’s score is the second-highest individual score for a player while chasing in a T20I game. The current record is held by Evin Lewis who smashed 125 runs against India in 2017.

1 – The 26-year-old also broke the record for the highest individual T20I score against South Africa. The previous best belongs to Chris Gayle who smashed 117 in the inaugural T20 World Cup.