Babar Azam's Third Successive T20I Fifty Goes In Vain As Finn Allen Century Powers New Zealand To Series Win

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Babar Azam scored his third successive fifty in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand, but the Pakistan star batter's knock went in vain as the hosts rode on Finn Allen's century to seal the series with a 45-run victory in the third T20I in Dunedin.

Chasing 225 to keep the series alive, Babar (58 off 37 balls) carried on his form with his 36th T20I half century, but could not see the side home as Tim Southee (2 for 29) starred with the ball yet again to restrict Pakistan to 179/7.

Stand-in skipper Mitchell Santner (1 for 26) and Lockie Ferguson (1 for 27) also did well with the ball for the Blackcaps. Mohammad Nawaz (28 off 15 balls) was the second highest run-getter for Pakistan in the loss.

Babar, who had scores of 57 from 35 balls and 66 from 43 balls, walked in to bat in the fourth over, joining Mohammad Rizwan (24 off 20 balls) and shared small stands with three other batters before he was removed by Ish Sodhi in the 16th over.

This knock also took Babar to 33 fifties in the shortest format. The Pakistan batter reached 33 fifties in 101 innings, and his tally is just four behind star India batter Virat Kohli for most fifties in T20 internationals. Here is a look at the most fifties list:

Most Fifties in T20Is

1. Virat Kohli (India) - 37 Fifties in 108 innings
2. Babar Azam (Pakistan) - 33 Fifties in 101 innings
3. Rohit Sharma (India) - 29 Fifties in 142 innings
4. Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan) - 25 Fifties in 76 innings
5. David Warner (Australia) - 24 Fifties in 99 innings

With his three fifties in the ongoing series, Babar also surpassed former New Zealand opener Martin Guptill to become the third highest run-scorer in the shortest format with 3666 runs in 101 innings. He is only behind Indian pair Kohli (4037 runs) and Rohit Sharma (3853 runs) in the list.

Coming back to the match, put into bat, New Zealand rode on Finn Allen's century to set a target of 225. Allen's knock of 137 from 62 balls included 16 sixes and 5 fours as the Blackcaps opener took the Pakistan bowling unit on.

Haris Rauf was the highest wicket-taker with 2 scalps for Pakistan, but the pacer was just three runs short of producing the most expensive figures by a Pakistan bowler in the format as he gave away 60 runs in his four overs. Here is a look at the most expensive figures by Pakistan bowlers in T20Is:

Most Runs Conceded in an innings by Pakistan Players in T20I

• 63 - Usman Shinwari vs South Africa in 2019
• 62 - Shahnawaz Dahani vs England in 2022
• 61 - Mohammad Wasim Jnr vs England in 2022
• 60 - Haris Rauf vs New Zealand in 2024

Babar will look to get to another fifty plus score and most importantly Pakistan will look to get back to winning ways when they face New Zealand in the fourth T20I at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Friday (January 19).