PC: dnaindia
Pakistan captain Babar Azam displayed his extraordinary skills by batting at number six in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup warm-up match against Australia. The 28-year-old's innings completely changed the game, showcasing Pakistan's formidable batting prowess against the Australian team.
Azam's remarkable performance saw him score a brilliant inning of 90 runs in just 59 balls, which included 11 fours and two sixes. His excellent performance completely changed the course of the match, with the target set at 352 runs.
However, what really garnered the praise of fans and cricket lovers was Azam's selfless act. Despite being just 10 runs away from his century, he decided to retire himself, giving Salman Ali Aga the opportunity to join Mohammad Nawaz at the crease.
For those unfamiliar, practice games are not recorded as official matches. In these games, most teams rotate their players to gain practice and become familiar with the conditions. As a result, a century, fifty, or hat-trick achieved in a practice match has no significance.
Earlier, the Australian batsmen put immense pressure on the Pakistani fast bowlers during their innings resulting in a total of 351 runs in 50 overs.
Glenn Maxwell performed exceptionally well and played an excellent innings by scoring 77 runs in 71 balls. His notable performance included ten fours. Following Maxwell's lead, Josh Inglis contributed significantly to Australia's momentum in the final 10 overs, scoring an impressive 48 runs off just 30 balls, with a strike rate of 160.
In the end, Pakistan succumbed to a total of 337 runs, ultimately giving Australia a good win. However, both the teams can be proud of the exceptional performance of their batsmen, which is the best for them ahead of the upcoming tournament starting on Thursday.
