‘King is back to his business’ – Fans react as Babar Azam scores his third T20I century against New Zealand

Pakistani skipper Babar Azam scored his third T20I century against New Zealand in the second match of a five-match series. The 28-year-old remained unbeaten on 101 runs off 58 balls as Pakistan beat New Zealand by 38 runs to take a lead of 2-0.

Batting first at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan got a great start as Babar and Mohammad Rizwan put up a partnership of 99 runs for the first wicket in 10.4 overs. Rizwan went on to score a fine half-century. The 30-year-old got out after scoring 50 runs off 34 balls with six fours and a maximum.

Babar and Ahmed took the innings further after a series of wickets

After that, the hosts started losing momentum with a series of wickets. Fakhar Zaman got bowled for a golden duck by Matt Henry in the fifth ball of the 11th over. In the next over, Saim Ayub also went back to the pavilion without scoring a single run trying to take on Rachin Ravindra but ended up giving a catch to James Neesham at deep mid-wicket. An over later, Imad Wasim also lost his wicket to Neesham, and Pakistan were reduced to 105 for 4 after a great start by the openers.

After that, Babar took charge of the innings along with Iftikhar Ahmed as both batters put up an unbeaten partnership of 87 runs for the fifth wicket. Ahmed remained unbeaten on 33 runs off 19 deliveries hitting one four and three sixes, while Babar Azam hit on the last ball of the innings to complete his 3rd T20I century as Pakistan scored 192 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. The Pakistani scored 11 fours and three sixes in his knock of 101 runs.

Chasing the winning total, skipper Tom Latham and Chad Bowes gave a fine start to the Kiwis by adding 44 runs for the first wicket in 6.2 overs. After that, the hosts started losing wickets at regular intervals. Mark Chapman took the innings further as he remained unbeaten on 65 runs off 40 balls with four fours and four sixes. However, his knock was not enough for New Zealand to win as they could only reach 154 runs for the loss of 7 wickets. Haris Rauf was the main anchor of the Pakistani bowling as he took 4 wickets by conceding 27 runs in his four overs.

Here’s a look at how fans reacted to Babar Azam’s knock:

Bobby yar dil jeet liya aik baar or. Bas ese hi in logo ke mu band rkho jinko tumhari qadar nhi hai.#BabarAzam #PakvsNz pic.twitter.com/iqhxXKlEBY

— Basit (@iambasit_Ba56) April 16, 2023

https://twitter.com/Zjutt0580Jutt/status/1647481414064164864

https://twitter.com/selfrespect527/status/1647479673528664064

https://twitter.com/cricket74029396/status/1647479630431940608

https://twitter.com/119_Galle/status/1647479524689362944

https://twitter.com/Fahad_Ali_8/status/1647479247848587266

https://twitter.com/Arshadkhan_ofcl/status/1647478731009667073

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