Babar Azam in action© X (Twitter)
Markhors thrashed Stallions by 126 runs in match No.4 of Champions Cup 2024 on Sunday in Faisalabad. Opting to bat first, Markhors posted a good total of 231 with Iftikhar Ahmed and Salman Agha scoring 60 and 51 runs respectively. Later, the Mohammad Rizwan-led side had a great outing with the ball as well as they bundled out Stallions for 105. Despite being on the losing side, Stallions' senior batter Babar Azam grabbed all the limelight with his batting heroics.
Pakistan's white-ball skipper came out to bat at No 3 and looked in good touch. In the 8th over of Stallions' chase, Babar unleashed his fury on pacer Shahnawaz Dahani.
After bowling the first delivery as dot, Dahani got hit for five consecutive boundaries by Babar. The 29-year-old batter played fearless cricket before getting dismissed for 45 by Zahid Mohammad in the 16th over.
Dahani vs Babar #UMTMarkhorsvAlliedBankStallions #DiscoveringChampions #BahriaTownChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/hXyCY8evW8
— Bahria Town Champions Cup (@championscuppcb) September 15, 2024
This knock by Babar left all the fans utterly impressed. Babar, who has been facing severe criticism for his poor show in international cricket, was praised by the fans for his batting for Stallions.
Babar my man how beautiful your batting is Ma Sha Allah!!!!! May you perform like this in international as well.
— Sahiba (@Sahiba56) September 15, 2024
Babar Azam is a true king
— iraaa.56 (@hira_B16) September 15, 2024
some sight to watch
— Ahmad Amin Khan (@AhmadAminKhan) September 15, 2024
Babar's brilliant knock went in vain as no other batter of the Stallions was able to play a decent knock. Apart from Babar's 45, the second highest scorer of the team was Shan Masood with 19 runs.
Coming back to the match, Iftikhar Ahmed and Salman Agha scoring 60 and 51 runs respectively and helped Markhors post 231. Skipper Mohammad Rizwan also scored 33 off 39 balls.
Jahandad Khan was the star bowler for the Stallions as he registered a four-wicket haul. Apart from him, Mehran Mumtaz also scalped three wickets.
Later in the chase, the Stallions could not even inch closer towards the target as Markhors' bowlers easily dominated them.
Zahid Mohammad scalped five wickets while Salman Agha and Naseem Shah took three and two wickets respectively.
With this win, Markhors have taken the top spot on the points table with two back to back victories. Meanwhile, Stallions are in the second place with one victory in two games.
Both Markhors and Stallions will now be squaring off against Dolphins on Tuesday and Thursday respectively.