Azam and Rizwan added their 9th century partnership in T20Is- the most by any pair.
Kane Williamson won the toss and chose to bat first. But the Pakistani bowlers first put pressure on their batters and kept that pressure throughout the innings, as New Zealand only managed 152/4. Daryl Mitchell with 52* and Kane Williamson with 46 were the top scorers, while Shaheen Afridi picked 2/24.
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In reply, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan came out in blazing fashion and hit the Kiwi bowlers to all parts of the SCG ground, adding 105 runs for the first wicket with Babar Azam falling for 53 in 47 balls with 7 fours, his first fifty in this tournament.
This was Babar and Rizwan’s 9th hundred partnership- the most in T20Is by any pair and 3rd in the T20 World Cup, another record for the duo.
The cricket fraternity lauded both batters on Twitter for putting Pakistan in the driver’s seat in the knockout game.
Here are the tweets: