Mohammad Rizwan scored 87 in a 158-run opening partnership with Babar Azam as Pakistan chased down a target of 208 runs with more than an over to spare against the West Indies in Karachi.
Mohammad Rizwan has become the first batsman to score over 2000 runs in a calendar year in T20 cricket. It is part of a stellar 2021 for the Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman in which he has scored a century and 18 half centuries in the format.
Of these, 1326 runs have come in 29 matches for Pakistan at a strike rate of 134.89 and average of 73.66. Rizwan has scored 12 half centuries in T20Is and his only century this year has also come in international cricket. He is the highest run scorer in T20Is by some margin this year, with second-placed Babar scoring 939 runs.
Babar and Rizwan put up a partnership of 158 runs as Pakistan chased down a target of 208 runs against the West Indies in Karachi on Thursday. It was their sixth century stand, which is the most by any batsmen in T20Is, going past India';s Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Babar scored 79 while Rizwan made 87. It was Babar's 20th half century in the format this year which is the most for any batter in a single calendar year.
This was also their fourth century stand as an opening pair in T20Is, all of which have come this year. They are also the only Pakistan openers to have century stands to their names. The stand was also their second-highest as a pair after their partnership of 197 against South Africa earlier this year.