Pakistan, in response, could only muster 179/7 in their 20 overs, with Babar Azam leading the way once more with 58 (37).Notably, Babar Azam scored 57 (35) and 66 (43) in the first two games of the series, marking his third consecutive fifty-plus score. On Wednesday, January 17 at University Oval in Dunedin, New Zealand defeated Pakistan by 45 runs in the third Twenty20 International to seize an unassailable 3-0 lead over them in the five-match series.
Having been assigned to bat first, New Zealand’s Finn Allen produced an incredible performance of 137 (62) to completely destroy Pakistan’s bowlers. After the previous Pakistan captain scored fifty more runs, Shaheen Afridi, the newly designated captain, hailed his one-man show in the first three games and said he needed some help to win them.
“I had previously stated that Babar Azam was still in good form.
He cannot be assessed by us after just a few innings. In the three games of the series, he has contributed three excellent innings. He was unable to conclude the games in our advantage. To extend the innings, he required an ally on the opposite side. We may have won the game if there had been a different batter on the other end with Babar “stated Afridi at the news conference following the game.
Notably, with 181 runs at an average of 60.33 and a strike rate of 157.39 from three innings, Babar Azam is the second-highest run scorer of the series thus far. With 763 ratings, the 29-year-old is presently ranked fourth in the ICC T20I batting rankings. In the final two games, Babar Azam will try to maintain his current level of play and lead his team to victories for consolation.
In a T20I innings, Finn Allen tied the record for most sixes.
Finn Allen, on the other hand, made history in the opening innings by hitting 16 maximum sixes, tying the record for most sixes in a T20I innings. The New Zealand batter imitated the performance of Hazratullah Zazai of Afghanistan versus Ireland in February 2019.
He also achieved the highest score by a New Zealand batsman in Twenty20 Internationals (137 off 62), surpassing Brendon McCullum’s 2012 T20 World Cup mark of 123 (58) against Bangladesh. In the series’ fourth game, which takes place at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Friday, January 19, Allen is expected to deliver another spectacular knock.
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