T20 World Cup: Babar Azam in action against USA on Thursday, Virat Kohli walks off after getting dismissed against Ireland. (AP/PTI)
Pakistan captain Babar Azam on Thursday overtook Virat Kohli to become the all time T20I leading run scorer. Babar now has 4067 runs from 113 innings, as opposed to Kohli’s 4038 from 110 outings.
At third in the all-time tally is the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who scored a fifty in India’s tournament opener on Wednesday, with 4026 runs from 144 innings. The trio will all feature come Sunday as India play Pakistan at the Nassau County Stadium in New York.
Subsequently in the top-five tally are Ireland captain Paul Stirling and former New Zealand opener Martin Guptill.
Opening the batting for Pakistan, Babar was the leading run getter against the USA in Pakistan’s opening Group A encounter against the USA in Dallas. Babar scored 44 off 43 balls, an innings that saw him clear the fence twice in addition to three fours.
Most runs in men’s T20I history
Having won the toss, the USA put Pakistan in to bat first and managed to restrict the 2022 edition’s runner-ups for 159/7 from their 20 overs quota.
Other than Babar, Shadab Khan was the only one who was able to get going as he laced three sixes and a boundary in his 25-ball-40. Towards the end of the innings, Shaheen Shah Afridi’s 25-run cameo would help Pakistan get past the 150-run mark.
For USA, left-arm spinner Noshtush Kenjinge was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets. Saurabh Netravalkar snapped a couple of wickets while Pakistan origin bowler Ali Khan and Jasdeep Singh took a wicket each.
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