Babar Azam achieves historic feat in first South Africa Test

Pakistan batter Babar Azam achieved a historic feat as he became the first Pakistani to score 4,000 runs across all three formats.

The former Pakistan batter achieved the milestone in the first PAK v SA Test as he smashed a boundary to complete his 4,000 runs in Test cricket, becoming the 12th batter from Pakistan to do so.

Babar Azam was dismissed after scoring just four runs in the Boxing Day Test, however, his short inning helped him join India’s Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the elusive list of batters to have scored 4,000 runs across all formats of the game.

The former Pakistan captain has amassed 4,223 runs in 128 T20Is and has scored 5,957 in ODIs.

Meanwhile, Pakistan found themselves in trouble as they were off to a horrible start, losing four wickets for 88 runs in the first session of the first PAK v SA Boxing Day Test.

After being asked to bat first, the opening pair Shan Masood and Saim Ayub gave the hosts a 36-run partnership.

Read more: Babar Azam scripts history in second South Africa T20I

However, South Africa pacers dismissed Masood on 17 and Saim Ayub on 14 in quick succession.

Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam’s stay at the crease was a brief one, as he was dismissed after adding just four runs to the total.

Kamran Ghulam remained the top scorer for Pakistan, having contributed 54 runs to the total in the first PAK v SA game.

Pakistan Playing XI: Shan Masood (c), Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Abbas.

South Africa Playing XI: Temba Bavuma (c), Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson and Corbin Bosch.