In what was a big comeback day for Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz and the entire team, the dynamic opener made it count on a good pitch against Pakistan in the 2nd ODI in Hambantota.
The first ODI at the same venue, Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota, a couple of day ago was a low-scoring one, with Pakistan winning by 142 runs in their defence of an already low total of 201 as Afghanistan were bundled out for only 59.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz led a roaring comeback for Afghanistan in the 2nd ODI by scoring an entertaining century, worth 151 runs in as many deliveries with the help of 14 fours and 3 sixes. He was given great support from the very reliable, and steady opening batsman Ibrahim Zadran, who scored 80 runs in 101 balls.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran put on a record opening partnership of 227 runs in 39.5 overs. This was the second-ever highest opening stand against Pakistan in ODIs, only behind the Aussie duo of David Warner and Travis Head, the pair that added 284 runs for the first wicket in an ODI in Adelaide back in 2017.
However, after that Afghanistan lost their way a bit as the Pakistani bowlers bowled well in the last 10 overs, with Afghanistan ending their innings on 300/5.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, breaks big record of Babar Azam, Dhawan and Hashim Amla
This was the 5th ODI century for Rahmanullah Gurbaz. He has taken only 23 innings to reach his 5th ODI ton. He is now the 3rd fastest in the world to 5 ODI hundreds in terms of innings. At the top of the list are Quinton de Kock, both of whom cracked 5 ODI centuries in only 19 innings,
Least ODI innings for 5 ODI centuries:
Quinton de Kock – 19
Imam-ul-Haq –19
Rahmanullah Gurbaz –23
Babar Azam –25
Upul Tharanga – 28
Shikhar Dhawan –28
Hashim Amla-30
Speaking after his knock, Gurbaz said: “We just hoped to play positive (after last match’s defeat), we expected this from our batters. We wanted to bat well and post a good total. I have been batting with Ibrahim Zadran since a long time. We were discussing throughout our partnership to bat with a plan. I was set but wasn’t able to hit boundaries against spinners, so I am pretty confident we can defend this total.”
