Florida (USA): Pakistan captain Babar Azam eclipsed India's iconic skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and became the batter with the most runs as a captain in the history of the T20 World Cup. He achieved the incredible feat during the clash between Pakistan and Ireland here on June 16.
The Men in Green found themselves in a very tricky situation in chase of a 107-run target, finding themselves at 62 for 6 after 11 overs. However, Babar kept his calm and displayed his strong temperament, taking the game deep and ensuring a three-wicket victory for his side, amassing an unbeaten 32 off 34 balls.
After his classical knock, Babar surpassed former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's tally of 529 runs (29 innings) in the marquee competition. The right-hand batter now has 549 runs to his name in 17 innings as captain in the T20 World Cup while New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson is just two runs shy of Dhoni's 529 and could surpass him in the Kiwis' next game against Papua New Guinea on Monday, June 17.
While Babar broke the record with his bat, his star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was adjudged the Player of the Match for his match-winning all-rounded performance for his exceptional four-over spell where he picked three wickets for 22 runs at a mere economy of 5.50, also made history. He now has the two POTM awards, joint most with the former pacer Umar Gul in T20 World Cups.
Coming to the match, after being reduced to 32/6, Ireland managed to crawl to 106/9 after Gareth Delany (31) and Joshua Little (22*) chipped in with valuable contributions. In reply, Pakistan's opening pair failed while the middle order fell like a house of cards against a spirited bowling performance from Ireland. Babar and Shaheen rescued a three-wicket win for Pakistan at the end which ensured they avoided finishing at the bottom of the group.
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