Toss report: Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat against Zimbabwe on Sunday in the third and final Twenty20 international at Harare Sports Club with the series level at 1-1.
Captain Babar Azam’s decision was influenced by the fact that the team batting first successfully defended their total in the previous two matches.
Azam and rival captain Brendan Taylor agreed that the pitch was bowler-friendly and it would be a challenge to surpass 140 runs.
Pakistan made three changes to the team that suffered a shock 19-run loss two days ago with Sharjeel Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Hasan Ali replacing Asif Ali, Danish Aziz, and Arshad Iqbal.
Zimbabwe dropped Tinashe Kumanhukamwe even though he top-scored with 34 in the second international. Sean Williams took his place.
Zimbabwe XI: Tarisai Musakanda, Wesley Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams(c), Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva(w), Luke Jongwe, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava
Pakistan XI: Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Sharjeel Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain
PAK vs ZIM 3rd T20I: Babar Azam breaks Virat Kohli’s record to become fastest to complete 2000 runs- Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has gone past Virat Kohli to become the fastest to complete 2,000 runs in the shortest format. He achieved the landmark while playing against Zimbabwe in the T20I series decider at Harare on Sunday. Azam took just 54 matches (52 innings) to complete 2,000 runs.
Overall, he is the 11th batsman to complete 2000 runs in T20I cricket.
In his career, Babar Azam has a century and 17 fifties. He plays at an impressive average of nearly 48.
India skipper Virat Kohli had achieved the milestone of 2000 T20I runs in his 56th innings (60th match). Australia captain Aaron Finch is placed third in the list. He had achieved the landmark in his 62nd match.
PAK vs ZIM 3rd T20I: Babar Azam breaks Virat Kohli’s record to become fastest to complete 2000 runs
It is notable that Babar Azam ranks 2nd in the latest ICC T20I Rankings with 844 points.
Fastest to 2000 T20I runs
| Player | Opposition | Ground | Match Date | Debut | Time | Mat | Inns | Scorecard |
| V Kohli (INDIA) | v England | Manchester | 3 Jul 2018 | 12 Jun 2010 | 8y 21d | 60 | 56 | T20I # 684 |
| AJ Finch (AUS) | v England | Southampton | 4 Sep 2020 | 12 Jan 2011 | 9y 236d | 62 | 62 | T20I # 1095 |
| BB McCullum (NZ) | v Netherlands | Chattogram | 29 Mar 2014 | 17 Feb 2005 | 9y 40d | 67 | 66 | T20I # 390 |
| MJ Guptill (NZ) | v Pakistan | Mount Maunganui | 28 Jan 2018 | 15 Feb 2009 | 8y 347d | 70 | 68 | T20I # 641 |
| PR Stirling (IRE) | v West Indies | St George’s | 15 Jan 2020 | 15 Jun 2009 | 10y 214d | 73 | 72 | T20I # 1028 |
Babar Azam also overtook his teammate Mohammad Hafeez who achieved the feat in 89 innings (93rd match).
Now, Azam is only behind his teammates Hafeez and Shoaib Malik to become the highest run-scorer for Pakistan. The duo has 2,335 and 2,388 runs* respectively.
When it comes to the highest run-getter, Virat Kohli leads the list of most run-scorer with 3,159 runs. Martin Guptill is placed second with 2,939 runs while Rohit Sharma is third with 2,864 runs to his name.
