T20 WC: Mohammad Rizwan 1st player to 1,000 T20I runs in calendar year

Pakistan cricket team opener Mohammad Rizwan is having a fairytale run at the ICC men’s T20 World Cup campaign. In the semi-final tie against Australia, Rizwan became the first cricketer to aggregate 1,000 runs or more in T20I in a calendar year.

He achieved that feat in the 12th over of Pakistan’s innings when Rizwan clobbered Australia spinner Adam Zampa for a huge maximum over deep mid-wicket.

In the match, Rizwan also hit a calculated half-century to motor forward his team in the semis.

In 2021, Rizwan has played 23 matches and was not out nine times. His highest was 104 not out. The right-handed batsman also averages 92.27 and has a healthy strike rate of 136.24. He also has one century and 9 half-centuries to his name.

Second on the list is Pakistan’s Babar Azam (826), Ireland’s Paul Stirling (748 in 2019), Kevin O’Brien of Ireland (729 in 2019).

As far as the match is concerned, Australia captain Aaron Finch won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat. 

Mohammad Rizwan struck his third half-century of the tournament before Fakhar Zaman roared back to form with a 32-ball unbeaten 55 to power Pakistan to 176/4.

Openers Rizwan (67 off 52) and Babar Azam (39 off 44) shared a 71-run stand before Zaman ended the innings on a high with his unbeaten knock.

“The wicket will not change a lot over the course of the game. The guys are relaxed, there’ll be obvious nerves. This pitch has played true right through the IPL and the World Cup and expect more of the same tonight, no changes in the playing XI,” Finch said at the toss.

“We’ll have to put runs on the board and then defend it. It’s an honour to lead this bunch of players, looking forward to playing some good cricket. UAE is our backyard, we know these conditions well. No changes for us as well,” Pakistan captain Azam said at the toss.

Teams:

Pakistan (Playing XI): Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi

Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Aaron Finch(c), Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade(w), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood