From Babar Azam's record 122 to Kane Williamson masterclass: Here are top 5 T20I knocks of 2021

2021 was packed with some of the most impressive T20I knocks with Pakistan captain Babar Azam smashing a record score to kick off this year before a flurry of absolute bests were served during the ICC tournament, hence making the choice of top 5 innings of the year a tough one.

For the first time in men's cricket history, a calendar year witnessed more than 100 T20I games (comprising full-member teams). Well, in all fairness, it was the year of the T20 World Cup where Australia had emerged champions, beating their Trans-Tasman rival New Zealand in the final in the UAE on November.

Babar Azam; Kane Williamson (Getty)

2021 was packed with some of the most impressive T20I knocks with Pakistan captain Babar Azam smashing a record score to kick off this year before a flurry of absolute bests were served during the ICC tournament, hence making the choice of top 5 innings of the year a tough one. But we still made the impossible to present to you the best knocks from the 2021…

Babar Azam - 122 off 59 v South Africa

Babar predominantly plays the role of an anchor in T20s, arguably the best in that role alongside India's Virat Kohli, with a career strike rate of 129.1. But on April 14, the SuperSport Park in Centurion witnessed a completely different Babar as he smashed 122 off just 59 deliveries, in what made the list of one of the all-time best innings in T20Is, to help Pakistan chase down 204 in only 18 overs to win the final match of the three-T20I series by nine wickets.

Pakistan did make a very good start to the chase, scoring only eight runs in the first 12 balls before Babar hit two boundaries in the third over against George Linde and thus began one of the most breath-taking and glorious T20I innings. He hit as many as 15 boundaries and 4 sixes to score a record-breaking 122, the highest score by a captain in a T20I chase and the highest individual score by an Asian captain in the format, at a strike rate of 206.77. En route, he also stitched a phenomenal 197-run stand alongside Mohammad Rizwan before he departed with Pakistan seven runs short of the target.

Jos Buttler - 101* off 67 v Sri Lanka

England found themselves in deep water at the halfway mark after being obliged to bat first, scoring 47 for three, their lowest score in the first ten overs of a T20I game since 2014 Chittagong game against the Netherlands. Courtesy of the Sri Lankan spinners, England had lost Jason Roy, Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow all in the powerplay with England dealing with just dots and singles for a considerable period of the first 10 overs of the game. And just when Sri Lanka felt it was time for the end game, the second half turned out to be a complete anti-climax.

Jos Buttler (Getty)

With a cover drive for a boundary, only his third in 31 balls, Buttler had broken the shackles with a flurry of sixes and fours. He reached his half-century in 45 balls, the slowest to the mark in his T20I career, and scored the next fifty in just 22 balls, reaching the triple-figure mark with a six launched into the stands.

Kane Williamson - 85 off 48 v Australia

It was a sheer masterclass from Williamson as he single-handedly threatened to script New Zealand's first win against Australia in a tournament knockout since 1981. And the captain was fighting his own battle as well, a niggly elbow that has troubled him throughout 2021, amid lack of able support from the other end.

Australia had their plans reserved for Williamson with Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins troubling him with shortish deliveries and cutters with the new ball and kept the off-side packed, restricting him to just five off 10 in the powerplay.

He then shrugged off the sluggish start to power Mitchell Marsh for back-to-back boundaries - one over deep extra cover and other down deep mid-wicket before ruthlessly decimating Mitchell Starc for 39 runs in 12 balls. Williamson finished with 85 off 48, where he hit 10 boundaries and three sixes, to provide New Zealand new hope only for it to be crushed by the David Warner and Marsh.

Matthew Wade - 41* off 17 v Pakistan

With 62 needed off the final five overs, with five wickets in hand and two batters in the middle who barely batted in the tournament, up against the best bowling attack of the competition, most would have written Australia off. They weren't the favourites on the night, to be honest, let alone in the tournament. But Matthew Wade and Marcus Stoinis remained calm under pressure amid an unfortunate night for Hasan Ali.

Wade pounced on the nervy Hasan in his final over to hit a four and a six before taking on Shaheen Shah Afridi in the 18th over to hit three sixes in a row as Australia finished the chase with an over to spare and book their place in the final.

Asif Ali - 25 off 7 v Afghanistan

Amid the big knocks, arguably the tougher one tends to get overshadowed owing to their value by figure, but on their day, they were the most celebrated knocks and such was Asif Ali's spectacular 7-ball unbeaten 21. It was yet another thriller between Pakistan and Afghanistan, at the T20 World Cup 2021 group-stage tie, before the latter ran out of bowling depth to add to the pressure the piled on Pakistan until the 18th over. Exploiting Afghanistan's weakest bowler, with a short-led fielder in sight, Asif bulgeoned four sixes in the 19th over to bail out Pakistan and help them reach the semis.