NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam on Saturday ended an unwanted streak, notching up a half-century in Test cricket after a gap of 733 days.
Babar’s fifty came on the third day of the South Africa vs Pakistan Boxing Day Test in Centurion as he scored an 85-ball 50 in the second innings.
Babar, who has been going through a bad patch for a while now, got to his first Test half-century in the longest format since December 2022.
Babar reached the 50-run mark off 80 balls but his stay in the middle was then cut short as Marco Jansen dismissed him in the 37th over.
The 30-year-old had last hit a half-century against New Zealand in Karachi.
Since then, Babar had gone 19 consecutive innings without reaching fifty.
The period saw a significant dip in form for Pakistan’s no.3. His highest score during this lean spell was 41 off 79 balls that came against Australia in Melbourne last year.
Babar, who has 9 Test tons, coincidently also hit his last hundred when New Zealand toured Pakistan back in 2022.
Since his debut in 2016, Babar has featured in 56 Tests and averages 43.55.