https://arab.news/gu66f
- Babar hit an unbeaten 104 off 100 balls as Allied Bank Stallions defeated Engro Dolphins in Champions One-Day Cup
- For the 2nd consecutive game Dolphins failed to chase a total and reached only 97 runs in pursuit of the 272-run target
ISLAMABAD: Babar Azam on Thursday became the first Pakistani batter to register 30 or more List-A centuries as he smashed a brilliant 104 runs to guide Allied Bank Stallions to a victory over Engro Dolphins in the Champions One-Day Cup at Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.
For the second consecutive game Dolphins failed to chase a total as they could only reach 97 runs in pursuit of the 272-run target set by Stallions.
Babar hit an unbeaten 104 off 100 balls with the help of seven fours and three sixes, including a boundary on penultimate ball of the innings to bring up his record century.
“Babar Azam smashed his 30th List-A century, becoming the first Pakistan batter to register 30 or more List-A centuries,” the Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement.
The List-A cricket refers to 50-over domestic matches. The ton comes as a major sigh of relief for Babar, who’s had a poor form over the past few months.
Babar has failed to score a half-century in the last eight Test matches he has played and has also failed to deliver stellar performances in the last two ICC cricket world cups in India and the United States.
Yasir Khan (46, 58b, 5x4s), Shan Masood (34, 36b, 3x4s) and Tayyab Tahir (33, 49b, 4x4s) were the other notable contributors. In turn, Mehran Mumtaz (3-14) and Jahandad Khan (3-18) picked up three wickets each as Dolphins fell for a paltry 97 in just 25 overs.
After Stallions won the toss and elected to bat first, Shan and Yasir provided a solid opening partnership of 76 runs before falling in 13th and 17th overs, respectively. Babar and Tayyab stitched a 57-run third-wicket partnership before the latter fell in the 30th over.
Hussain Talat chipped in with 23 off 25 balls with the help of two fours while also adding 46 with Babar for the fifth wicket. The eighth-wicket partnership between Babar and Haris Rauf stretched for 41 runs in 23 balls with the latter only contributing three runs. All six Dolphins bowlers picked up one wicket each.
Jahandad’s three-wicket burst with the new ball left Dolphins at 40-3 before the other bowlers struck at regular intervals as they lost remaining seven wickets for just 57 runs. Abrar Ahmed dismissed the top scorers for Dolphins, Sahibzada Farhan (32, 36b, 6x4s) and Asif Ali (21, 28b, 3x4s). Haris Rauf bagged two wickets as well.
Stallions made it two out of three wins as they qualified for the playoff stage, along with UMT Markhors and Lake City Panthers, while the Dolphins faced their third consecutive defeat. Lions and Dolphins are fighting for the fourth place in the playoff stage and will face each other on September 22.