Babar Azam ends form slump with first Test fifty in over two years, century drought persists

Babar Azam's impressive innings included 9 boundaries and he maintained a strike rate of 58.82. During Pakistan's second innings, he confidently faced a total of 85 deliveries.

The right-handed batter's last fifty-plus score had come against New Zealand in December 2022, where he played a knock of 161 in Karachi.

Since then, Babar witnessed an astounding slump in form, failing to surpass the 50-run mark in his last 19 Test innings. His highest score during this period was a 79-ball 41 against Australia in Melbourne in 2023.

Before scoring this fifty against the Proteas, Babar recorded scores of 14,24,27,13,24,39,21,14,1,41,26,23,0,22,31,11,30,5 and 4 in his previous 19 Test innings.

Babar Azam was recently dropped from Pakistan's Test squad after scoring just 30 and 5 against England in the first match of the three-Test series. He was then omitted from the squad for the last two games of the series, which Pakistan eventually won 2-1.

Babar Azam first Pakistan batter to score more than 4,000 runs in all three formats

During the first Test against South Africa, Babar Azam also became the first Pakistan batter to score more than 4000 runs in all three formats of the game.

Overall, he is the 12th Pakistan batter to surpass the 4000-run mark in Test cricket. Babar also has 9 centuries to his name in the longest format of the game.

In 128 T20Is, Babar has scored 4223 runs. While in ODIs, the right-handed batter has registered 5957 runs.

Coming back to the first Test between South Africa and Pakistan, the match is on a knife's edge. Earlier, South Africa had won the toss and opted to bowl first.

If South Africa win the first Test then the Proteas will qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final, irrespective of what happens in the second match of the two-Test series.

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