Pakistan Cricket’s biggest names were up against each other with the likes of Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi going up against each other in the Champions One-Day Cup tournament on Friday.
The ace batter has been under the spotlight as he has been on a downward spiral in terms of his batting form having a disastrous outing in the recently concluded Test series against Bangladesh that took place in Rawalpindi recently.
Nonetheless, the 29-year-old representing the Stallions was able to find his groove with the bat as he struck a half-century against the Lions.
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But the contest between Azam and Afridi heated up as the two star players went strong. Azam batting at 76 in 78 deliveries looked to pull a shorter delivery away towards the deep square leg region, but as a result of his shot being mistimed, he was dismissed after a catch by Faisal Akram in the deep.
Shaheen after taking the wicket, showcased his iconic pose that the Afridi’s have been famous for, celebrating the massive dismissal.
.@iShaheenAfridi gets the prized wicket of @babarazam258 #DiscoveringChampions #AlliedBankStallionsvNurpurLions pic.twitter.com/goDNi2MhQs— Official Champions Cup (@championscuppcb) September 13, 2024
But Azam had the last laugh as the Stallions went on to take the win by a massive margin of 133 runs and also win the player-of-the-match award. The Lions’ batting unit was not able to come through. Imam-ul-Haq who opened the batting was the only decent performer in the side having scored a valiant 78 in 83 balls.
Pakistan cricket management will hope that the tournament will help bring further clarity to improve their squad across all formats. The defeat against Bangladesh was a new low for the national side as it was the first series defeat at the hands of their next-door neighbours in the longest format of the game.
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Azam will in all certainty feature for the Stallions in their next game which is up against Markhors tomorrow, taking place in Faisalabad.
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