KARACHI: Peshawar Zalmi captain Babar Azam achieved a major milestone in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 against Lahore Qalandars at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi on Saturday.
Babur played a crucial innings of 43 runs off 40 balls with 3 fours and a six, becoming the first batsman in PSL history to cross 4,000 runs.
The right-handed batsman reached the milestone in his 105th PSL appearance, maintaining a career strike rate of 127.92. His record includes 37 fifties and two centuries, highlighting his consistency in the tournament.
The second highest run-scorer in PSL history is Lahore Qalandars’ aggressive batsman Faqar Zaman with 3,018 runs from 99 matches at a strike rate of 141.82 including 24 fifties and two centuries.
The list of PSL’s leading run scorers is now as follows:
- Babar Assam (Peshawar Zalmi) — 4,004*
- Faqar Zaman (Lahore Qalandars) – 3,018
- Muhammad Rizwan (Sultans of Multan) – 2,853
- Riley Rossow (Quetta Gladiators) – 2,366
- Shoaib Malik (Quetta Gladiators) – 2,350
Earlier, Zalmi got off to a promising start as opener Mohammed Harris and Babur set the tone for a positive stroke play, batting first.
Haris drove the early pace but Shaheen Afridi took him for 18 off 10 balls in his second over. Babar then combined with Gusal Mendis to rebuild the innings as the duo took Zalmi past 50 and steadily took control.
Mendis played fluently to record another half-century in PSL 11, while Babur anchored the innings with authority as their partnership crossed the 100-run mark.
Their stand of 109 ended when Usama Mir dismissed Babur for 43 off 40 balls.
Michael Bracewell added valuable runs to push past 150, but Shaheen Afridi scored 74 off 48 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes to dismiss Mendis.
Zalmi’s progress was halted before Mustafizur Rahman accounted for Bracewell’s 10-ball 21 before dismissing Ubaid Shah Abdul Samad for two.
Shaheen returned to claim his third wicket in the final over, removing Farhan Yousaf for two as Zalmi made 173-7 in their 20 overs. Iftikhar Ahmed remained unbeaten on 7 runs while Subian Mukeem was unbeaten on one run.
The late blows continued as Mustafizur Rahman accounted for Bracewell’s 21 off 10 balls with a four and two sixes. Shaheen Afridi picked up his third wicket again in the last over, dismissing youngster Farhan Yousuf for two runs.
With 173-7 at the end of 20 overs, Zalmi’s innings ended unbeaten with Iftikhar Ahmed on 7 and Subian Mukeem on one.