Babar Azam matches Chris Gayle magnificent T20 record with incredible century in Lanka Premier League

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, who is currently engaged in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2023, on Monday became the second cricketer to slam ten 10 centuries in T20 cricket. Azam achieved the feat in the LPL encounter between Colombo Strikers and Galle Titans, which the former won by seven wickets. Azam, who represents Colombo, scored 104 off 59 balls to help his side close the stiff 189-run chase in 19.5 overs.

Babar, who is currently ranked third in the shorter format, has scored three centuries in international encounters, two each in the Vitality Blast and National T20 Cup. He has also smashed a ton in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and one during a tour match against Leicestershire.

Babar's ton on Sunday took his tally to 10, also making him the fourth player to achieve the feat since the inception of LPL in 2018. Babar achieved the feat in his 264th Test.

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‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle is the only other player to score more than 10 T20 centuries. Gayle, who holds the record for smashing the highest individual score (175* vs Pune Warriors, IPL 2013), leads the tally with 22 tons in 463 matches.

Australia's David Warner, Aaron Finch, and Michael Klinger along with Virat Kohli have smashed eight T20 hundreds each under their name.

What happened in the match?

Batting first Galle Titans posted 188/3 in 20 overs, with wicketkeeper-batter Tim Seifert smashing 54 off 35 balls. In response, the opening pair of Azam and Pathum Nissanka gave Colombo an ideal start, adding 111/1 in 12.3 overs for the first wicket. While Nissanka's innings was cut short at 54(40), Babar hung around until the final over, ensuring his side don't drop any points.

‘Lanka Premier League will help me to prepare for Asia Cup’

Babar, who is featuring for the first time in LPL, grabs the opportunity to fine-tune his performance ahead of major tournaments (Asia Cup and ICC World Cup). He had earlier said the tournament will help him adapt to different conditions in Asia.

"Whenever you play different leagues, in different conditions you end up learning a lot. I try my level best to perform well. I adapt to different conditions while facing different bowlers from Asia because we have a lot of cricket coming up in Asia. We have Asia Cup, the Afghanistan series and the World Cup as well. I will try to focus, adapt to the conditions, and face good spinners to prepare for these upcoming big tournaments," he said.