Afghanistan opening duo Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran scripted history by scoring the most 100+ partnerships in T20 World Cups. The duo achieved this milestone during the AFG vs AUS clash at St Vincent.
Prior to this duo, Pakistan’s Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan topped the list with a total of three 100 plus partnerships in T20 World Cups.
With their outstanding performance against mighty Australians, Gurbaz and Zadran joined the elite list and stand alongside the Pakistan openers.
Most 100+ partnerships in T20 WCs
- 3 – Babar Azam and M Rizwan
- 3 – R Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran
Afghanistan was scheduled to face Australia to play the 48th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 on June 23 in Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent.
Winning the toss, Australia opted to field first where Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran opened the inning on behalf of Afghanistan. Gurbaz and Zadran made a steady start against the aggressive Australian pace attack.
The duo scored 40 runs in the first powerplay and survived without losing a wicket. Afghan batters maintained a steady inning and started to build a partnership but with a slower run rate.
Gurbaz and Zadran took eight overs to reach the fifty runs mark which is roughly 6.5 runs per over. With a boundary in the final of the 10th over, Afghanistan scored 64 runs without losing a wicket.
The duo started to shift the momentum and secured their 100 runs mark in the middle of the 14th over.
A stunning show! 🤩
After stellar half-centuries from #RahmanullahGurbaz and #IbrahimZadran, Afghanistan managed to put up a strong start! 🙌🏻
𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝟖 👉 #AFGvAUS | LIVE NOW | #T20WorldCupOnStar (available only in India) pic.twitter.com/MHPLOhDa4R
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 23, 2024
While the Afghan openers were expected to execute an aggressive knock in the death over, Australian bowlers made a bounce back and broke the partnership.
After 95 balls, Australia got their first wicket when Stoinis dismissed Gurbaz for 60 runs in the 16th over. Following his dismissal, Afghanistan started to lose wickets at regular intervals and struggled to make an impact in the final four overs.
Josh Hazlewood who played his 50th T20I game today went wicketless after spilling 39 runs in four overs. With a couple of wickets in the final over, Pat Cummins bagged his second hat-trick of the T20 World Cup 2024. At the end of 20 overs, Afghanistan scored 148 runs for 6 wickets loss.
