Babar Azam achieves major WTC milestone in first South Africa Test

LAHORE: Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam has reached a major milestone in the World Test Championship (WTC) during the opening Test of the two-match series against South Africa at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.

Babar, who was just two runs short before the match, crossed the 3,000-run mark in WTC history, becoming the first Pakistani and eighth overall player to achieve this remarkable feat.

The right-handed batter reached the milestone in his 37th Test match, having already registered 18 half centuries and eight centuries in the Championship so far.

Apart from the 30-year-old, the list of players with over 3,000 runs in the WTC includes three England batters Zak Crawley (3,041), Ben Stokes (3,616) and Joe Root (6,080), who also holds the record for the most runs in WTC history.

The elite list further features four Australian stars Steve Smith (4,278), Marnus Labuschagne (4,225), Travis Head (3,300) and Usman Khawaja (3,288).

When this news was filed, Pakistan were 180 for 2 in 51 overs, with Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq at the crease.

Opener Abdullah Shafique was dismissed in the first over after scoring just two runs. Following his departure, skipper Shan Masood and Imam-ul-Haq put together a 161-run partnership for the second wicket.

The stand was eventually broken when Shan Masood was dismissed by Prenelan Subrayen for 76 off 147 balls, including nine fours and one six.

Playing XIs:

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Agha, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan.

South Africa: Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Sen Muthusamy, Prenelan Subrayen, Kagiso Rabada, Simon Harmer.