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Malik smashes the fastest 50 after Babar notched up his 19th 50+ of the year in T20s

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Last updated on 07 Nov 2021 | 09:00 PM
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Malik smashes the fastest 50 after Babar notched up his 19th 50+ of the year in T20s

Here are a few noteworthy stats from Match 40 & 41 of ICC T20 World Cup 2021 between New Zealand and Afghanistan and Pakistan and Scotland

1.2 billion fans from India were banking on Afghanistan for a miracle against New Zealand in the first encounter of the day. After electing to bat first, Afghanistan started to lose wickets inside the powerplay and so did the Indian fans' hope. Reeling at 23 for three at the end of the field restrictions, Najibullah Zadran provided some resistance with his personal best knock in T20Is of 73 from 48 balls. A 59-run partnership between Mohammad Nabi and Najibullah for the fifth wicket also played a crucial role. New Zealand in reply, were slow to start with but Kane Williamson and Devon Conway forged a match winning partnership of an unbeaten 68 off 56 balls for the third wicket. By virtue of their 8-wicket win, they qualified for the Semi-Finals and made sure the hosts were knocked off.

On the forefront, the second match was a dead-rubber between Pakistan and Scotland. However, a win was very much necessary for Pakistan to be at the top and avoid a clash with the in-form England. Sent into bat, Mohammad Rizwan departed early. But, the skipper Babar Azam and the two of most experienced players of Pakistan, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez joined the party today. After Babar registered his fourth 50+ score of this edition, Hafeez played a cameo of 31 runs from 19 balls. But, it was Malik who provided the late flourish with an 18-ball half-century. Pakistan posted 189/4 in their full 20 overs. Here are some notable stats from Match 40 & 41:

The most successful pair

Najibullah and Nabi are one of the biggest names and the most experienced players for Afghanistan. In their game against New Zealand, they were to their rescue again. Though their 59-run partnership went in vain, it notched up a record. In T20Is, this was their seventh 50+ partnership, which is the most among Afghan pairs. Before this match, they were tied with Asghar Afghan and Mohammad Shahzad with six.

Yet another milestone at a young age

Rashid Khan is just 23 years old and the magician has 400 wickets already. Assuming that he will play another 10-15 years, the 1000 wicket mark in the shortest format of the game isn’t far from possibility. In this tournament itself, he became the fastest to 100 wickets in T20Is. In this match, he became the fastest to 400 T20 wickets as he reached it in just 289 matches. Imran Tahir reached 400 wickets in 320 matches.

Shoaib Malik goes berserk

Coming into bat at 112/3 with five overs to spare, Malik produced one of the most scintillating knocks in the history of the World Cup as he unleashed a flurry of strokes all around the ground.  En route to this blistering innings studded with one boundary and six hits over the fence, the right-handed batter recorded a half-century off 18 deliveries, which is the fastest by a Pakistan player in T20 Internationals. Umar Akmal's 21-ball half-century against Australia in the year 2010 is second on the list.

Babar Azam anchors the innings with a half-century

One of the greatest players in the modern era, Babar Azam, anchored the innings with a classy 66 off 47 deliveries with five boundaries and three sixes to guide the team to a massive first innings total. En route to this crucial innings, the skipper of the Pakistan side registered the most 50+ scores in T20s in a calendar year with 19 scores of over 50. Virat Kohli is second on the list with 18 half-centuries in the year 2016. Also, this half-century was his fourth of this edition. Only two other batsmen have had as many 50+ scores as him in an edition. Matthew Hayden in 2007 and Virat Kohli in 2016 also had four.

Rizwan goes past the universe boss

Rizwan missed out on an opportunity to score big today. But, in his innings of 15 runs he went past the record set by the “Universe Boss” Chris Gayle. The right-handed wicket-keeper batsmen recorded the most runs scored in a calendar year in T20s with 1676 runs. The wicket-keeper batter surpassed the record held by Gayle with 1665 runs in the year 2015. In T20Is as well, he holds the record for the most runs in a calendar year with 966 runs. He requires just 34 runs to become the first batsman to score 100 runs in a calendar year in internationals.

Pakistan register a thumping win

After scoring 189, it was always a tall task for Scotland. As has been the case with Scotland batting in the Super 12 stage, they crawled to a score of 117. This led to a dominating 72-run win in Pakistan’s last league game. This also registered their second-biggest margin of victory in the T20 World Cup. In 2009, the team won by a margin of 82 runs at the Home of Cricket against Netherlands, which is the largest margin by runs for the side. 

Scotland bowlers carted all-over by Malik

One of the most experienced players of Pakistan Malik, made a grand entrance to the party with the fastest half-century in T20Is for his national side. In his swashbuckling innings, he struck six maximums, which is the most for a Pakistan batsman in an innings of a T20 WC. Imran Nazir in 2007 against New Zealand and Ahmed Shehzad in 2014 against Bangladesh had hit five sixes, which was the most then.

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