Babar Azam struck a blistering century in the presence of his mother, who was in attendance at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on February 26 to watch the Pakistan Super League (PSL) match between Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United.
On the back of his unbeaten hundred, the Peshawar-based franchise posted a mammoth 201 runs on the board and ultimately won the match by eight runs. After the match was over, Babar, the captain of the winning side, shared his thoughts about the special occasion. The Pakistani opener believes the presence of her mother had a huge impact on his innings as she brought good luck to him.
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It was a memorable day for Babar, who was playing in front of his mother for the first time in his career. During the post-match conversation, the former Pakistan skipper said, “My mother came to watch for the first time. She’s very happy. She enjoyed it. She always watches at home but she proved to be a source of good luck for me. She came to watch the match and I scored a hundred,” as quoted by Geo News.
Islamabad captain Shadab Khan won the toss and sent his opponents to bat first. Babar Azam opened Peshawar’s innings along with Saim Ayub. The duo racked up 77 runs together before Ayub was dismissed by Salman Ali Agha. The upcoming batters of the Peshawar unit could not survive long as well.
However, it didn’t matter as Babar turned out to be a lone warrior for his team. The right-handed batter slammed 111 off just 63 deliveries. His unbeaten knock was laced with as many as 14 boundaries and two maximums as the side went on to post a target of 202.
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Islamabad’s opener Colin Munro made a powerful start to the chase in the second innings. The Kiwi batter scored a 53-ball 71. Azam Khan also showcased his big-hitting prowess as the wicketkeeper-batter smashed 75 runs off 30 balls. The efforts, however, went in vain, with Islamabad falling marginally short of the huge target.
With the ICC T20 World Cup knocking at the door, Babar Azam looks to have been in impressive form in the shortest format. Ahead of the PSL, he featured in a bilateral T20I series against New Zealand where he registered a half-century in the first three games, scoring 57, 66 and 58 runs respectively. Babar wrapped up the five-match assignment with 213 runs that he scored at an average of 42.6.
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