Babar Azam scored another century on Saturday night to take his tally to 16 in one-day cricket. Days after scoring a smooth century against Australia in the second ODI to help Pakistan complete their most successful chase, Babar Azam was back to torment the Aussies in the third and final ODI. The Pakistani skipper scored 105 not knocked out as the hosts galloped to a nine wicket for their first series victory over Australia since 2002. After Babar’s heroic exploits with the bat, applause poured in from all parts of the world. Among them was former England captain Michael Vaughan, who called the Pakistani star “simply exceptional”.
“And again.. Simply outstanding @babarazam258.. #TheBest,” the former England batter tweeted.
And again .. Simply exceptional @babarazam258 .. #The best
—Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) April 2, 2022
It was a dominating performance from the home side at the Gaddafi Stadium as they dismissed Australia for a sub-par 210 thanks to their fast bowlers, who shared eight wickets and then chased the target for 37.5 overs by losing a single wicket.
Babar Azam, however, got a reprieve early in his innings with Travis Head dropping him on one. And the elegant right-hander made the Australians pay dearly, hitting 12 limits in his 115-ball shot.
Babar was ably supported by the Imam-ul-Haq who followed his consecutive centuries with an unbeaten 89 from 100 balls.
Babar and Imam went on an unbeaten 190 run for the second wicket after opener Fakhar Zaman fell to Nathan Ellis for 17.
“When you lose the first game, your players need confidence and once you gave them that, they came back strong and did well,” Babar Azam said.
“Thanks to them for this series victory.”
Australian skipper Aaron Finch regretted the lack of runs.
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“We didn’t have enough points,” Finch said. “When you lose three in the first overs, it’s always going to be tough to get a big total.”
(With AFP inputs)
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