Pakistan's Babar Azam, despite a subdued performance in the second T20I of the three-match series against South Africa, achieved a significant milestone in T20 cricket. In his innings of 31 runs off 20 balls, he eclipsed the legendary Chris Gayle to become the fastest player to accumulate over 11,000 runs in T20 matches.

Babar Azam, who made his T20 debut in 2012, has now amassed a total of 11,020 runs across 298 innings.

Previously, Chris Gayle held the record for reaching 11,000 T20 runs the quickest, accomplishing this feat in his 314th innings. Gayle remains the all-time leading run-scorer in T20 cricket, with a total of 14,562 runs.

In total, 11 players have surpassed the 11,000-run mark in T20 cricket. Alongside Gayle and Babar, the list includes Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard, Alex Hales, Virat Kohli, David Warner, Jos Buttler, Rohit Sharma, Aaron Finch, and James Vince.

Currently, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have 12,886 and 11,830 T20 runs, respectively. Both players announced their retirement from international T20Is following India's second T20 World Cup victory earlier this year.

Pakistan lose T20I series against South Africa

Pakistan, under Mohammad Rizwan's leadership, lost the second T20I against South Africa by seven wickets. The Proteas successfully chased down a target of 207 with three balls remaining.

Reeza Hendricks was instrumental for the hosts, scoring an impressive 117 runs off just 63 deliveries, while Rassie van der Dussen contributed significantly with a score of 66 runs from 38 balls.

Earlier, Pakistan had set a total of 206 for 5 in their allotted 20 overs, largely thanks to Saim Ayub's remarkable innings of 98 runs off 57 balls, which included 11 fours and 5 sixes.

Both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan had disappointing performances, with scores of 31 and 11, respectively. Babar had previously been dismissed for a duck in the first T20I.

With this loss in the second T20I, Pakistan has been eliminated from contention in the three-match series. They will aim to restore some pride in the final match, scheduled for Sunday.

Following the T20I series, South Africa and Pakistan will play three One-Day Internationals and two Test matches.

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