Babar Azam gives special mention to Fakhar's epic 193, calls it a 'total one-man show'

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has lauded Fakhar Zaman's one-man show in the second ODI against South Africa at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday which they lost by 17 runs.

Zaman, who waged a lone battle as he kept on losing his batting partners from the other end at regular intervals was run out in a controversial manner in the final over for 193 i.e. just seven runs short of his second double century in the 50-overs format.

'It was a total one-man show': Babar Azam

"One of the best innings that he (Fakhar) has played, or I have seen, especially for the clean hitting. He took his time, then built his innings even as wickets fell," ESPNcricinfo quoted Babar as saying.

"It was a total one-man show - sadly he couldn't finish the game and he missed his double. We were really praying for him to get that double. If he had one all-rounder batting with him, it could've ended 2-3 overs earlier," the Pak captain added.

The run out that denied Fakhar Zaman a deserving double century

The incident happened during the final over of the contest that was bowled by Lungi Ngidi. On the very first delivery, the frontline pacer had bowled a fuller delivery on the offside as Zaman drilled it to long-off. He successfully completed the first run but then came back for a risky second run. Nonetheless, keeper Quinton de Kock tricked the opening batsman into believing that the ball being thrown by the fielder from the long-on position was going to the non-striker’s end, leading him to turn behind and watch his partner. Zaman slowed down as he turned behind to see if his partner had reached the crease and that is when the stumper cashed in on the opportunity as he quickly collected the ball and whipped off the bails as the in-form batsman had no choice but to take a long walk back to the pavilion.

Fakhar Zaman's valiant knock goes in vain

South Africa, who were asked to bat first by Pakistan skipper Babar Azam finished their innings at 341/6 from their 50 overs riding on stellar contributions from their top and middle order including the likes of wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock (80), skipper Temba Bavuma (92), Rassie van der Dussen (60), and, David Miller (50) respectively.

In reply, the 1992 World Cup winners lost Imam-ul-Haq early after which Fakhar and skipper Babar added 63 runs for the second-wicket stand before the latter's dismissal. At 120/5, the visitors were starring down the barrel but, Zaman played a counter-attacking knock and showed great intent as he looked to take his side past the finish line.

However, with the asking rate getting steeper and no support from the other end, it was tough for him to get the job done single-handedly as Pak needed 31 runs from the final over with just a couple of wickets in hand and once the opening batsman was run out of the very first ball, it was the end of the road for the Champions Trophy holders as they were restricted to 324/9 from their 50 overs.

(With ANI Inputs)