PAK vs IRE: Babar Azam breaks Virat Kohli's T20I record

Pakistan captain Babar Azam smacked his 39th score of fifty-plus in the third T20I against Ireland in Dublin.

The 29-year-old scored 42-ball 75 with the help of five maximums and six fours. With 39 scores of fifty-plus, he now has the most scores of fifty and over (36 fifties + 3 centuries)

Most 50+ scores in T20I (including centuries)

Babar Azam: 39

Virat Kohli: 38

Rohit Sharma: 34

Mohammad Rizwan: 29

It must be noted Pakistan defeated Ireland by six wickets at the Clontarf Cricket Club.

After losing the first match by five wickets, the Babar Azam-led unit made an excellent comeback in the series as they won the remaining T20Is with dominant performances.

Chasing the 179-run target in the third T20I, Pakistan, once again, had a disappointing start as opener Saim Ayub departed for the pavilion after contributing just 14 runs.

However, the pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan rose to the occasion and formed a 139-run partnership which not only helped Pakistan steer to victory but also etched their names in the history books.

Babar and Rizwan became the first pair to score 3,000 partnership runs. While doing so, they also became just the first batting pair to have 10-century stands. The closest to them is India’s pair of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul with five-century partnerships.

Babar also smashed three sixes in a row and four in an over to Benjamin White, which was the first time in his career.

Following Rizwan (56 off 38) and Babar (75 off 42) departures, Azam Khan (18 off 6) took Pakistan over the line as the visitors chased down the target in 17 overs.

Meanwhile in the first innings, Pakistan restricted Ireland to 178/7 after the home side had a strong start to the innings.

Shaheen Shah Afridi was Pakistan's MVP with the ball as the left-armer only conceded 14 runs while taking three wickets in four overs.