Pakistan skipper Babar Azam had recently come under the scanner for his poor form. Azam was not in the best of forms in the Asia Cup as he could only score 68 runs in six matches at an average of 11.33. However, the right-hander was able to turn the tables in the second T20I against England at the National Stadium, Karachi on Thursday.
The flamboyant batter scored a magnificent knock of 110 runs off just 66 balls and helped his team chase down 200 runs. Pakistan went on to win convincingly by 10 wickets as Azam and his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan added an unbeaten alliance of 203 runs and thus broke a plethora of wickets.
Rizwan, who was recently criticized for his low strike rate by many Pakistan experts, also scored a fine knock of 88 runs off just 51 balls to answer all his critics in style.
Azam said that he always had the belief to get back into form and he received the backing of the team management as well as his players.
Babar Azam was awarded the Player of the Match for his fine knock. He said in the post-match presentation, “The discussion was we can chase it down, we have done it before and that was the belief in the dressing room. The wicket always plays better under lights and it played better than what we expected. The discussions with Rizwan were to finish the match. I always had the belief (during the run of low scores) and you need that as a sportsman. The team always supported me and kept backing me.”
On the other hand, England skipper Moeen Ali conceded 21 runs in the 13th over he bowled and feels it changed the momentum in Pakistan’s favor.
Ali said after the game, “It was a very good score. It was a good wicket in the end. We were bowling okay, but the momentum changed when I bowled my over and gave 21 runs. We played really well with the bat. Duckett’s innings gave us a good platform.”
With the comprehensive win of 10 wickets, Pakistan was able to level the seven-match series by 1-1.
The third T20I will be played at the same venue on Friday.
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