Babar Azam Ends Two-Year Half-Century Drought in Centurion Test Against South Africa

Babar Azam, Pakistan's star batter, had been waiting two years to hit 50 runs in Test cricket. Finally, on Saturday, December 28 he did it, the match was against South Africa in Centurion, and it was the first Test Day 3. The best part is, that Babar got those 50 runs off just 85 balls and even conjoined nine fours. Babar and Saud Shakeel built a partnership by scoring a 79-run for the fourth wicket. Pakistan's score went beyond 150 runs in the second innings, putting them ahead by 63 runs.

Starting the day at 16 runs after a rain delay, Babar Azam confidently started dispatching a short and wide ball from Kagiso Rabada for his first boundary of the day. Soon after, he guided a delivery from Dane Paterson through the slips for another four.

Babar Ends Two-Year Half-Century Drought

FIFTY FOR BABAR AZAM IN TEST CRICKET AFTER 733 DAYS 🇵🇰

- Pakistan giving a tough challenge to South Africa with WTC final on the line for host. pic.twitter.com/ia4aXdXJdf

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 28, 2024

Babar started doing it immediately by hitting Rabada for a four in the next over. The last ball of the over moved quickly toward him but he managed to send it flying over the gully, scoring yet another four. Babar Azam was back into his form because the manner he was playing was really great, making those shots look very nice.

Babar hit a quick single off Corbin Bosch to notch his half-century in the 36th over. It was his first test fifty after December 26, 2022, when he made 161 runs against New Zealand in Karachi. After playing 20 innings without scoring a fifty, this fifty was his 27th in tests, throughout these innings Babar's performance wasn't great, averaging just 21 runs and obtaining a total of 420 runs.

Pakistan Struggles After Babar’s Dismissal

Babar was doing well until he made a mistake and hit a shot against Marco Jansen and got caught at short cover, making it 153/4 for Pakistan, everything got much worse after he got out, with the team's batting falling apart. Mohammad Rizwan could only add 3 runs before he was out, and Salman Agha did even worse, getting only 1 run.

SOUTH AFRICA NEED 148 RUNS TO QUALIFY INTO WTC FINAL 🏆

- 5 wickets for Marco Jansen...!!! pic.twitter.com/lHi0Br7Xoj

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 28, 2024

Pakistan was in a tough spot, scoring only 237/10 and just 148 runs ahead against South Africa. Marco Jansen really demonstrated his skills with the ball for South Africa by taking 6 wickets. Rabada managed to get 2 wickets and Corbin Bosch and Dane Paterson took one wicket. South Africa needs just 148 runs to qualify for the WTC finals.

ALSO READ: Can India Qualify for WTC Final After Boxing Day Test Draw or Loss?