Pakistan star Babar Azam was in sublime form in the Champions One-Day Cup on Sunday (September 15), as he hit pacer Shahnawaz Dahani for five fours in a row.
In match four of Pakistan's newest set of domestic competitions, Mohammad Rizwan's UMT Markhors took on the Allied Bank Stallions, led by Mohammad Haris.
Rizwan won the toss and chose to bat first, but Markhors were reduced to 38-3 after Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Faizan and Kamran Ghulam were dismissed within the ten-over Powerplay. There was a mini-recovery in the middle overs thanks to Salman Ali Agha (51) and Iftikhar Ahmed (60) but they eventually lost the last four wickets for 10 runs to be bowled out for 231 in 45 overs.
Also read: Younis Khan: Babar Azam needs to move past the captaincy controversy and focus on performance
Stallions lost Yasir Khan in the fifth over, bringing Babar Azam to the crease. He was batting on five off ten balls when Shahnawaz Dahani came on for the eighth over of the chase. After hitting the first ball straight to the cover fielder, Babar unfurled an array of beautiful shots to collect five boundaries off the next five balls.
The first was pulled powerfully over midwicket. Babar traded strength for subtlety on the second, guiding it past slip into the boundary at third. For his third four, he hit the same area, this time using the pace of the bowler against him. The fourth was crunched square on the off side, before Babar read the short ball correctly to hit the last ball of the over to the midwicket fence.
At the time of writing, he was unbeaten on 43 off 40 balls, with the Stallions 76-2 in 14 overs and comfortably in charge of their chase. Babar himself is coming off some good form with a knock of 76 off 79 balls in Stallions' opening game.
Watch Babar Azam hit Shahnawaz Dahani for five consecutive boundaries here
Dahani vs Babar 📸 #UMTMarkhorsvAlliedBankStallions #DiscoveringChampions #BahriaTownChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/hXyCY8evW8
— Bahria Town Champions Cup (@championscuppcb) September 15, 2024
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