Babar leads record-breaking in Final T20 against New Zealand

In the last match, Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam established the record for most fours in Men’s T20I history with a magnificent innings of 69 off 44 balls against New Zealand. His outstanding performance—which saw him top the chart with 409 fours—surpassed Ireland’s Paul Stirling.

Babar beat Stirling’s previous record of 407 fours in 136 innings with remarkable speed—he accomplished this in just 107 innings. Interestingly, Babar and Stirling are the only two players in Men’s T20Is history to cross the coveted 400-four mark.

MOST FOURS IN MEN’S T20Is

In a dramatic Twenty20 International Series, Babar’s outstanding knock helped Pakistan reach 178/5 on a Lahore pitch, while New Zealand’s heroic attempt was defeated by just 9 runs. Pakistan gained the upper hand in the match thanks to Shaheen Afridi’s outstanding performance, which featured a first over strike, in the second innings.

But it was his brilliant performance in the 14th over, when he took two wickets in a row and all but sealed the match’s outcome, that really swung the tide. Pakistan retained their composure to win a thrilling match despite a valiant effort by Josh Clarkson at the bat, while New Zealand’s batting order was unable to handle the pressure.

With the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 rapidly approaching, Shaheen Afridi offered his reflections on the series while addressing PCB’s social media channels.

First of all, well done, New Zealand. They played excellent cricket, even though the majority of the players on their team were domestic. stated Shaheen.

“Soon after the PSL, our team also played together. We can still get better at fielding, bowling, and hitting. The New Zealand team was quite successful at milking singles and doubles despite not scoring many boundaries.With the [T20] World Cup approaching, we need to continue winning matches by playing shrewd and aggressive cricket.

Afridi was named Player of the Series after taking eight wickets in four games and Player of the Match with statistics of 4/30. 

Afridi discussed his individual play, saying, “I try to strike with the new ball and give the team some momentum. It’s not always easy.” Since cricket is a team sport, I will give it my all on the field if I can’t bowl well.

Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir also made their comebacks during the series, having decided to revoke their retirements after talking with the PCB and declare themselves available for the forthcoming T20 World Cup.

Both players had successful returns: Imad scored 26 runs without a loss in two games and claimed a wicket, while Amir claimed three wickets in three innings. 

“We have a stronger team now that Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir are back,” Shaheen continued. “Hopefully, we maintain our improvement as there are narrow margins in the future.

“We have a T20I series against England and Ireland after this, and there isn’t much time left for the T20 World Cup.”