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Babar Azam's fantastic 86 helps Pakistan to take 1-0 lead in the Independence Cup against World XI

Abdullah719

T20I Captain
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Runs
44,825
Pakistan XI: Fakhar Zaman, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c, wk), Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Sohail Khan, Rumman Raees.

World XI: Hashim Amla, Tamim Iqbal, Tim Paine (wk), Faf du Plessis (c), David Miller, Grant Elliott, Thisara Perera, Darren Sammy, Ben Cutting, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir.

The World XI side won the toss and opted to bowl first in the first T20I at Lahore. Fakhar and Shehzad were the openers for Pakistan. The former hit boundaries off the first two balls but was dismissed by Morkel, undone by some extra bounce and caught at slip. Babar came to the crease and batted with authority from the get-go, hitting boundaries on a regular basis. However, Shehzad struggled at the other end but the partnership continued gathering momentum. Babar brought up his fifty off 33 balls and continued on his merry way, hitting boundaries frequently as the lesser bowlers joined the attack in the middle overs. Shehzad was eventually dismissed for a 34-ball 39 and 10 balls later, some tight bowling paid off as Babar was dismissed going for a big shot, caught in the deep for 86. Sarfaraz struggled in his short stay at the crease and fell for just 4 but Malik hit a couple of boundaries to help the innings gather momentum at the death. A big over off Cutting followed with Malik hitting three consecutive fours but the Pakistan batsman was dismissed in the last over for a 20-ball 38. That didn't deter Pakistan's finish as Imad plundered 14 off the last three balls to help Pakistan finish at 197/5.

The World XI side's innings began with three fairly tight overs with Imad specially proving hard to get away. Tamim and Amla hit back with a few boundaries off Sohail and Hasan to get the batting side back on track. Tamim fell to Rumman's second delivery after coming into the attack as he tried to slog a full delivery and was bowled for a run-a-ball 18. Amla's quickfire knock of 26 (17 balls) was brought to an end by Rumman as well as he was caught at cover. The Pakistan spinners proceeded to bowl some economical overs with Paine in particular struggling with the bat. However, Hasan came back into the attack and du Plessis made full use of the pace on offer as he thrashed the bowler for boundaries off four consecutive deliveries to get the chase back on track. Shadab was the one to bring the World XI captain's knock to an end as a slog was caught in the deep with the batsman out for 29 off 18 balls. Paine's struggle came to an end at last as he was caught at the boundary off Sohail's bowling for a run-a-ball 25. Miller looked to be positive in his short stay with the required rate mounting but that proved to be his downfall as he advanced down the pitch to a Shadab googly and was stumped. Perera put some pressure back on Pakistan with 3 fours in 3 balls off Rumman but Elliott was soon dismissed by Sohail, caught by Imad for 14 off 8. Hasan retured for another over and this time it was a good one as he conceded just three runs, making the task tougher for the remaining batsmen. Sammy smashed a few boundaries off the last two overs with Perera run out in the midst of the action but it was all too late for the World XI side as they fell 20 runs short of Pakistan's total.

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Great win, and a fantastic innings by Babar Azam. I said on another thread that him having a bad CPL doesn't mean he is in bad form.
 
Was it a full house? Disappointing if it wasn't even for a occasion like this.
 
Great win for Pakistan and good effort from World XI, amazing game overall
 
Good knock by babar today but still shouldn't play t20 as he cant accelerate
I think it's his fitness that is the problem. He can have a strong base for 10-15 overs but after that all the power and energy suddenly fades away. So from there on he have to depend on his partners to hit big so that he can easily rotate the strike.
 
I think it's his fitness that is the problem. He can have a strong base for 10-15 overs but after that all the power and energy suddenly fades away. So from there on he have to depend on his partners to hit big so that he can easily rotate the strike.

Were you watching the same match? He didn't even break a sweat today. Shehzad on the other hand was ready to pass out.
 
Feel free to check and let me know. He played a match winning innings today- why hate?

I don't hate him. In fact I think he is, by far, the best batting prospect in a long time. I'm just simply stating my observation. I just feel like he needs to improve his match fitness because I fear that he may go down the same path as his cousins did. I was very disappointed today because I thought he deserved a 100.
 
I don't hate him. In fact I think he is, by far, the best batting prospect in a long time. I'm just simply stating my observation. I just feel like he needs to improve his match fitness because I fear that he may go down the same path as his cousins did. I was very disappointed today because I thought he deserved a 100.

He got out because he mistimed a shot and was caught. Not sure how that reflects on his fitness. He deserved a ton but at least he got out playing for the team and looking to build the score at a fast rate rather than playing for his hundred. :sachin
 
He got out because he mistimed a shot and was caught. Not sure how that reflects on his fitness. He deserved a ton but at least he got out playing for the team and looking to build the score at a fast rate rather than playing for his hundred. :sachin
You don't miss time a shot when you are batting on 86 , with ample time to go in the inning, and are fully fit. But I don't want to impose my opinion to anyone because everyone is entitled to have one. Not to mention that I can be wrong.
 
You don't miss time a shot when you are batting on 86 , with ample time to go in the inning, and are fully fit. But I don't want to impose my opinion to anyone because everyone is entitled to have one. Not to mention that I can be wrong.

LOL. Mistiming a shot suddenly means you are unfit
 
I don't hate him. In fact I think he is, by far, the best batting prospect in a long time. I'm just simply stating my observation. I just feel like he needs to improve his match fitness because I fear that he may go down the same path as his cousins did. I was very disappointed today because I thought he deserved a 100.

Abdullah bhai has already addressed this point so I won't bother addressing it again.

By the way I just rewatched the stumping chance and contrary to your description, Babar actually showed remarkable awareness and agility to make his crease in time.
 
You don't miss time a shot when you are batting on 86 , with ample time to go in the inning, and are fully fit. But I don't want to impose my opinion to anyone because everyone is entitled to have one. Not to mention that I can be wrong.

Yes, you are.
 
Here was my reading of the game:

The Good:

1. Strike rotation: this is an aspect of the game that is slowly improving. Will try and find the dot ball %, but I am sure it will back this up.
2. Decent team selection: one notable exception.
3. Posted a competitive total: even though Fakhar didn’t fire today, Pakistan still reached a total of 197, which shows Pakistan aren’t too reliant on one player.
4. Fielding and fitness: the players looked sharp in the field and it was clear most have worked on their fitness.
5. Took wickets at the right time: every time it looked like the WXI were threatening to break away, Pakistan managed to find a breakthrough.
6. Good captaincy (on the whole).

The Bad:

1. Boundary hitting/power hitting: age-old issue. Luckily they made up for it in the last five overs but against a stronger bowling attack this issue will get Pakistan into trouble. The stats back this up: World XI hit more boundaries than Pakistan.
2. Seam bowling looked a little rusty- lacked any real bite. I am sure they will put in a better performance tomorrow.
3. Fahim wasn’t given enough game-time.

The Ugly:

1. Ahmed Shehzad. Enough said.
 
Great win. Babar is developing nicely and the team looks fit and strong. Exciting times ahead.
 
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