Record-breaking outing for Pakistan stars as Men in Green storm to tri-nation series final with win over Zimbabwe

Rawalpindi [Pakistan], November 24 (ANI): It was a record-breaking outing for Pakistan stars as they stormed into the final of the tri-nation series with a 69-run win over Zimbabwe at Rawalpindi.

On Sunday, star batter Babar Azam, opener Sahibzada Farhan, skipper Salman Agha and hat-trick hero Usman Tariq etched their names in the record books. A match between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe on Tuesday will decide the second finalist, with Zimbabwe having won one and lost two, while SL have lost both. A win would give Sri Lanka a spot in the final.

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first. Half-centuries from opener Sahibzada (63 in 41 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) and fan-favourite Babar Azam (74 in 52 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and a fiery cameo from Fakhar Zaman (27* in 10 balls, with a four and three sixes) took Pakistan to 195/5 in their 20 overs.

Skipper Sikandar Raza (2/39) was the top bowler for Zimbabwe.

Babar levelled with Virat Kohli for most fifties in T20Is, with 38 fifties each. While Babar has three centuries in T20Is, Virat has one. Babar is already ahead of the Indian legend in terms of fifty-plus scores in T20Is, having registered his 41st fifty-plus score, as compared to Virat, who has a total of 39 fifty-plus scores (including his one century).

Also, with yet another fifty, Sahibzada has registered his 16th fifty-plus score of 2025 (four centuries and 12 fifties), the most by a batter in this calendar year, outdoing Austria's Karanbir Singh (two centuries and 13 fifties).

Skipper Salman Agha, who stayed unbeaten on 1*, made a record for featuring in the most international matches in a year, taking his tally to 54 international matches this year, outdoing Indian legend Rahul Dravid's tally of 53 matches back in 1999.

In these 54 outings, Salman has scored 1,492 runs at an average of 31.74, with two centuries and eight fifties and a best score of 134. He has also taken 11 wickets at an average of over 63.

Salman's most prolific format with the bat this year is ODIs, having scored 667 runs in 17 matches and 16 innings at an average of 47.64, with two centuries and three fifties. His best score is 134. In T20Is, Agha has scored 548 runs in 32 matches and 30 innings at an average of 23.82, with four fifties, with an underwhelming strike rate of 113.22.

Chasing 196 runs, Zimbabwe crumbled to 126 all-out, with Ryan Burl (67* in 49 balls, with eight fours and two sixes) staging a lone warrior effort. Spinner Usman Tariq (4/18) took a hat-trick, removing Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa and Wellington Masakadza in the 10th over.

Usman became the fourth player to take a hat-trick for Pakistan in T20Is, joining the company of Faheem Ashraf (vs Sri Lanka in 2017), Mohammed Hasnain (vs Sri Lanka in 2019) and Mohammed Nawaz (vs Afghanistan this year). Usman also walked away with the 'Player of the Match' award. (ANI)

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