Pakistan captain Babar Azam played a good hand of 87 runs off 59 balls on Friday (September 30) at Lahore's Gaddafi stadium yet it was not enough to avoid his team a loss in the 6th T20I vs England. His knock included 7 fours and 3 sixes respectively. But this fine innings from Babar was overshadowed by the brilliance of English opener Phil Salt. The batter smashed 88 off just 41 balls to help England chase down target of 170 runs inside just 15 overs with eight wickets in hand. His knock came at a strike rate of 214.63 and included 13 fours and 3 sixes respectively.
Salt's high strike rate brought attention of Pakistani fans on Babar Azam's run-scoring rate. Babar took 59 balls for his 87 while Salt smashed 88 in just 41 balls. Babar's strike rate was 147.46, quite a decent one but Pakistan fans feel openers should have higher strike rates. Babar's strike rate has been a big issue in the past as well. He is regarded as the slow starter who then makes up only if he plays a long innings. Arguement by the critics of his is that, in the same time, a more attacking batter can make more damage than him at the top.
Fans took Twitter to troll Babar Azam, take a look at key reactions below:
The difference between Phil Salt's innings and Babar Azam's innings can be clearly seen through their Strike rates from ball one and also in Pakistan's innings when Babar reaction after missing the 118 th delivery clearly understandable of Stad padding innings.#PAKvENG#Cricket
— _______ _______ (@clownslayer_V) September 30, 2022
Salt vs Babar azam
— pharmacist (@Talib20211) October 1, 2022
Phil salt 88* ( 41 )
Babar azam 87 * ( 59)
Who plays for country
Decide yourself
__
This is real T20I inning WTF is
— KRITI _ (@itz_Kriti166) September 30, 2022
87*(41) This#PakvsEngland2022 #PhilSalt#BabarAzam pic.twitter.com/N3vJUElEIl
Phil Salt and Babar Azam, both openers. Strike Rate is something that Babar has to improve.#PakvsEngland2022#PAKvENG
— Shaun Tait __ (@shauntait161) September 30, 2022
No Way Babar Azam Batted On Same Track As This Guy . #PAKvsENG #philsalt #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/hI2LSoTubN
— Rohit Sharma (@VED4NTM4) September 30, 2022
Pakistan play England in the last and seventh T20I of the series on Sunday (October 2) at Lahore only. The series is level at 3-3 right now. Mohammad Rizwan, who has been Pakistan's best batter in this series, should return to the playing 11 for the last T20I. He was rested for the 6th T20I, giving debut to Mohammad Haris, who could not impress in his first T20I. It will be an exciting and close contest, going by how closely-fought this series has been.
Stay informed on all the latest news, real-time breaking news updates, and follow all the important headlines in india news and world News on Zee News.