T20 World Cup 2021, Match 31: Pakistan vs Namibia, Stats Review: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan continue to shatter records as Pakistan advance to semi-finals

Gone are those days when Pakistan were unpredictable! Under Babar Azam, the Men in Green are dominant and consistent. Having won their fourth successive match, Pakistan have sealed a berth in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2021. Namibia were the last team to go down against the 2009-edition champions. The Gerhard Erasmus-led side did well at some phases.

However, like India, New Zealand, and Afghanistan, Namibia also couldn’t upset the Pakistan camp. Speaking of how the game panned out, Pakistan won the toss and opted to the bat at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan continued their sensational run and added 113 runs for the first wicket. Both openers even went on to score half-centuries.

Mohammad Hafeez also played a fine knock towards the end as Pakistan posted 189/2 in their allotted 20 overs. Although Namibia did pretty well with the bat, they could never keep to the required run rate. As a result, they were restricted to 144 for five, losing the game by 45 runs.

Meanwhile, here are the important stats and numbers from Pakistan vs Namibia clash in T20 World Cup 2021:

15 – Pakistan have won their last 15 T20I matches in the United Arab Emirates.

2 – Pakistan recorded the second-highest total of the T20 World Cup 2021, 189/2. Afghanistan, having scored 190/4 against Scotland, tops the list.

5 – Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have added five 100-plus stands in T20Is in 2021. No other pair, among full member teams, has amassed even two century stands.

5 – Azam and Rizwan now also have most century stands by a pair in T20Is, 5.

14 – Azam now has the most fifty-plus scores in T20Is as captain. He earlier shared the record with India’s Virat Kohli.

1000 – Azam also became the first player to score 1000 T20 runs as captain in a calendar year.

900 – Mohammad Rizwan became the first player to score over 900 T20I runs in a calendar year.

2 – Rizwan’s tally of 1661 T20 runs in 2021 is the second-most for any player in a calendar year. Chris Gayle, having slammed 1665 T20 runs in 2015, tops the list.

3 – Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan became the third pair to add over 300 runs in partnership in a single edition of the T20 World Cup.

1000 – Babar and Rizwan also became the first pair to add 1000 T20 runs in partnership in a calendar year.

13 – Pakistan have now won 14 T20Is this year, second-most by any full-member team. Only South Africa (14) are ahead of them.

2 – Imad Wasim became Pakistan’s second-most successful left-arm bowler in T20Is, having scalped 55 wickets. Mohammad Amir tops the list with 59 wickets.