Babar Azam matches Virat Kohli's gigantic record with a 50 vs Ireland

Pakistan National Cricket Team captain Babar Azam made history on Friday, May 10, during the first T20I of the ongoing three-match T20I against Ireland at the Clontarf Cricket Club Ground in Dublin.

Babar scored a fifty in the T20I series opener against Ireland to join an elite group of Virat Kohli. The right-handed Pakistani batter became the only fourth cricketer in the world to score 100 or more in T20 cricket.

Before the 29-year-old Babar, West Indies great Chris Gayle (110), Australian opener David Warner (110), and Indian batter Virat Kohli (105) achieved the feat of scoring 100 50+ scores in the T20 cricket.

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Babar Azam joins Virat Kohli in elite list of world beaters

With an impressive record of 89 fifties and 11 centuries to his name in 296 T20 matches, Babar etched his name into the record book by becoming the youngest player to achieve the milestone of scoring 100 50+ scores. With his fifty against Ireland, Babar also equaled Kohli's record of 38 fifty-plus scores in T20Is.

However, Kohli has one hundred and 37 fifties to his name as a T20I cricketer, while Babar has so far smashed three centuries and 35 half-centuries for Pakistan. Both players share a top score of 122 in T20Is, although Kohli's innings was unbeaten.

Former Indian skipper Kohli is currently leading the chart for the most runs in T20I cricket with 4037 runs, while Babar has so far amassed 3880 T20I runs. Notably, Rohit Sharma (34), Mohammad Rizwan (27), and David Warner (27) are the other players on the list of the most fifty-plus scores in T20Is.

First IRE vs PAK T20I Highlights

Meanwhile, speaking about the first IRE vs PAK T20I, the hosts won the toss and decided to bowl first. The Ireland cricket team had a really great start as Pakistan opener Mohammad Rizwan ran out for just one-off four balls by Harry Tector.

Apart from Rizwan, Azam Khan and Shadab Khan could not also open their accounts against the Ireland team in the first T20I in Dublin. However, Babar managed to notch up a fifty, and the valuable contributions from Fakhar Zaman (20), Iftikhar Ahmed (37*), and Shaheen Afridi (14) helped Pakistan post a respectable total of 182/6 on the board against Ireland.

During his knock, Babar smashed eight fours and one maximum. Craig Young (2/27) was the standout performer for Ireland with the ball against Pakistan. Chasing the target, the Ireland team has not also had a great start, but Andrew Balbirnie and Harry Tector’s brilliant knocks took the hosts over the line in the final over against the Men in Green.

While former Ireland skipper Balbirnie played a remarkable knock of 77 runs off 55 balls laced with 10 fours and 2 sixes, Tector made 36 off 27 balls with the help of 3 fours and 1 six in Dublin. George Dockrell also contributed 24 runs off 12 balls in Ireland’s first T20I win over Pakistan.

Abbad Afridi snared two wickets for Pakistan in the first T20I against Ireland. The two teams will meet again in the second T20I on May 12 at the same venue at Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin.