ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam made his mark on T20 history once again as he tied former England captain Jos Buttler’s record of 97 T20 half-centuries against Melbourne Renegades on the night of the Sydney Sixers’ Big Bash League (BBL) 15 matchup at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne.
Babar made a composed match-winning knock of 58* off 46 deliveries, scoring four boundaries and a six over extra cover, as the Sixers went on to reach a target of 165 with six wickets in hand.
The 31-year-old, who also recorded the most runs in the Twenty20 Internationals, achieved this feat in his 333rd Twenty20 match, with 11 centuries. Buttler achieved this feat in 476 matches, with eight centuries.
With this innings, Babar became the joint third-highest scorer of half-centuries in Twenty20 international cricket. Australia’s David Warner tops this list with 113 fifties, while India’s Virat Kohli follows with 105 fifties.
Earlier, while batting first, Melbourne Renegades scored 164/9 in 20 overs. Sean Abbott bowled impressively for the Sixers and bagged the Man of the Match award after bowling 16/3 in four overs.
Opener Josh Brown led the way for the Renegades with a flurry of 43 off 19 balls, hitting three fours and four sixes. Jake Fraser-McGurk scored 38 off 29 balls, while Hassan Khan chipped in with 39 off 29, hitting three sixes. Pakistan keeper-batter Muhammad Rizwan continued his knack of getting out cheaply, scoring only six runs.
The Sixers responded and needed only 19.1 overs to finish their chase. Babar was joined by Daniel Hughes, who scored 30 off 23 balls, and Joel Davies finished the match unbeaten on 34 off 15 deliveries, scoring three fours and two sixes.
