Babar Azam hundred, Haris Rauf four-wicket haul give Pakistan 2-0 lead over New Zealand

Babar Azam and Haris Rauf flourished as Pakistan beat New Zealand by 38 runs in the second game of the five-match T20I series on Saturday, April 15 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Babar failed to perform in the series opener, but lit up the stadium with a stupendous 58-ball hundred. His knock, laced with 11 fours and three sixes, helped Pakistan post a challenging target of 193 for the Black Caps to chase down.

The skipper needed 16 runs to reach his hundred with six balls left in Pakistan’s innings and he got there with a magnificent four through the off-side off James Neesham. Babar also equalled Glenn Maxwell and Colin Munro as the ones with three hundreds in the format.

After opting to bat first, Pakistan got off to an excellent start. Mohammad Rizwan and Babar put on 99 runs for the opening wicket off 10.4 overs to lay the platform for the hosts. Rizwan got to his half-century, after which Matt Henry dismissed him.

Henry was on a hat-trick for the second time in the series, but this time around, luck didn’t favour him. Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub failed to open their accounts and Pakistan were once reduced from 99 for no loss to 105 for four within a space of 13 balls.

Thereafter, Babar and Iftikhar Ahmed put on 87 runs for the fifth wicket and got Pakistan close to the 200-run mark. Iftikhar threw his bat around to stay unbeaten on 33 off 19.

The Kiwis got off to a steady start courtesy of a 44-run stand for the opening wicket between Tom Latham and Chad Bowes. But both of them got out after getting started.

Mark Chapman scored 65 runs off 40 balls with four fours and as many sixes, but his efforts weren’t enough for the visitors to secure victory. Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra and James Neesham flattered to deceive.

Haris Rauf picked up four wickets in the first game and he carried his form into the second match with another four-wicket haul. The speedster has currently picked up 80 wickets from 59 matches at an average of 21.21.

The third game of the series will be played on Monday, April 17 and it’s a must-win affair for Tom Latham’s men to stay alive in the series.