Babar Azam takes a big step on Elite list of Batters with Most T20I Century with Lahore 100 vs NZ

The second game of the five-match T20I series between Pakistan and New Zealand is underway at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first. After missing out in the first game, Pakistan's star openers made the most of the opportunity in the second game.

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan added 99 runs for the first wicket in just 10.4 overs. Rizwan got out just after scoring his 24th T20I half-century. He made 50 off 34, including six fours and one six.

As soon as the first-wicket partnership was broken, Pakistan lost four wickets for six runs. From 99/0, the hosts slipped to 105/4 in 12.5 overs. But after that, Babar added an unbeaten 87 runs for the fifth wicket with Iftikhar Ahmed (33 off 19).

Babar carried his bat through the inning and scored his third century in the T20 international off the last ball of the first inning. He remained unbeaten on 101 off 58 balls, with 11 fours and three sixes. Pakistan posted a challenging score of 192/4 in their first inning.

Notably, it was also the 101st game for the Pakistani skipper in the shorter format. He is the only player from his country to score more than one T20I century in the shorter format. This century has helped him move up on the elite list of batters with the most T20I centuries.

Babar is now joint-second on the list, with Indian skipper Rohit Sharma leading the chart with four T20I hundreds. Both Rohit and Babar have 32 cores of 50 or more in the shorter format, which is the second most.

The most 50 or more scores are registered under the name of Virat Kohli, who had one century and 37 half-centuries in this format. Sabawoon Davizi (Czech Republic), Glenn Maxwell (Australia), Colin Munro (New Zealand), and Suryakumar Yadav (India) are the other batters with three T20I centuries.