Twitter Reactions: Babar Azam plays a captain's knock to help Pakistan win the first T20I against Zimbabwe

Pakistan cricket team was involved in the first match of the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on November 7, Saturday. Men in Green were soaring with confidence after clinching the ODI series by 2-1 and the momentum helped as they easily chased down an easy target of 157 posed by the visitors on the board courtesy the captain Babar Azam.

The toss went in favour of visiting captain Chamu Chibhabha’s way and he elected to bat first. Opening the innings for Zimbabwe, Brendan Taylor and Chibhabha lost their wickets within five overs as the latter bagged a golden duck while the former managed to contribute just 20 runs with the willow. The hero of the last ODI, Sean Williams couldn’t contribute much as he scored 25 runs.

The focal point of Zimbabwe’s innings was a stunning knock by Wesley Madhevere. Though wickets kept going down at the other end, Madhevere held his fort and smashed an unbeaten 70 off 48 deliveries including 9 fours and one six. Elton Chigumbura also played a vital cameo in the fag end of the innings as he added 21 runs to the scoreboard after facing 13 balls.

Babar Azam takes his team home

Thus, a clinical bowling performance by the hosts ensured that the Men in Red were restricted to a below-par total of 156 for 6 in 20-overs. Wahab Riaz and Haris Rauf were the pick of bowlers for Pakistan as they took two wickets each. Mohammad Hasnain and debutant Usman Qadir also had one each.

Chasing 157 on a batting-friendly pitch was never a task for the Men in Green and a splendid innings of 82 runs off 55 deliveries by captain Babar Azam ensured that his team reached the target without any drama. Azam played at a strike rate of 149.09 and his knock included 9 boundaries and one maximum. The skipper found an ally in Mohammad Hafeez who smashed 36 off 32 balls.

For Zimbabwe, Blessing Muzarabani took two wickets while Tendai Chatara and Richard Ngarava had one each to their name. Though the opposition took wickets at regular intervals, they couldn’t stop the flow of the runs and thus the hosts easily chased down the target with 7 balls remaining and took the lead by 1-0 in the three-match series.

Here are the best tweets on Pakistan’s victory over Zimbabwe

For his captain's knock @babarazam258 is the Man of the Match!#PAKvZIM | #HarHaalMainCricket pic.twitter.com/4DSYcG6oDx

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) November 7, 2020

Most T20I Fifties for Pakistan:

15 – 41 inngs – BABAR AZAM
13 – 91 inngs – M Hafeez
08 – 59 inngs – Ahmed Shehzad
08 – 79 inngs – Umar Akmal
08 – 105 inngs – Shoaib Malik

Just One Word I Would Say "KING"👑👊🎉#BabarAzamLovers #PAKvZIM pic.twitter.com/dqmRfdeIFz

— Babar Azam Lovers (@BabarAzam_Lover) November 7, 2020

Yet another disappointment. The 2018 Fakhar and the 2020 Fakhar definitely does not look the same.#PAKvZIM pic.twitter.com/eq1dIqoYJO

— Urva Shafqat (@urvashafqat_) November 7, 2020

Highest batting average in T20Is
(minimum 1000 runs)

50.93 – Babar Azam 🇵🇰
50.80 – Virat Kohli 🇮🇳
45.65 – KL Rahul 🇮🇳
38.68 – JP Duminy 🇿🇦
38.43 – Aaron Finch 🇦🇺

Among all the batsmen who’ve scored 1000 T20i runs Babar has the highest average.
King @babarazam258 ❤️#PAKvZIM

— Babar Azam India FC™️ 🇮🇳 (@BabarIndiaFC) November 7, 2020

Babar Azam’s fine half-century takes Pakistan to 6-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first T20I #PAKvZIM pic.twitter.com/Yjg2KyYL0g

— Cric Trend (@crictrend_) November 7, 2020

2nd consecutive year for @babarazam258 with 1000 T20 runs. He completed 1000 T20 runs milestone today with 82 against Zimbabwe. Last year, Babar was top T20 scorer of the year with 1607 runs. #Cricket #PAKvZIM

— Faizan Lakhani (@faizanlakhani) November 7, 2020

(2/2) "Going into the World Cup we want our 15 players to have game time and more experience. Need to work on our fielding Every match you need to work on different things. Every day you are faced with new challenges." #PAKvZIM

— 🏏FlashScore Cricket Commentators (@FlashCric) November 7, 2020

Babar Azam in T20I as Captain:

– Innings 8
– Runs 340
– Average 56.66
– SR 138.21
– 50s 5

Dear Haters, Alhamdulilah He is Performing Well as Captain too.😍❤️👊 #PAKvZIM pic.twitter.com/RXJDhonuXp

— Cricket Afridi (@CktAfridi37) November 7, 2020

My brother was like: thoray chakkay khaa laitay hum,target zyada hota tou Babar ki century ho jaati 😅#PAKvZIM

— Duessa (@amesemms18) November 7, 2020

Brilliant batting from our captain. Class at its best. #PAKvZIM #babarazam

— Musayyib Ahmed (@MusayyibAhmed1) November 7, 2020

Today was the 5th time in Pakistan's T20 history that the winning shot was an 'Extra'.

1 wide v Australia, 2007
1 wide v Australia, 2009
1 leg bye v Sri Lanka, WT20 Final 2009
1 no ball v Afghanistan, 2013#PAKvZIM

— Israr Ahmed Hashmi (@IamIsrarHashmi) November 7, 2020