MATCH STORY
Follow UsRahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, on June 22 (Saturday), became the first opening pair to stitch three 100-plus partnerships in a single edition of the T20 World Cup.
The two have now scored 383 runs in five innings at an average of 76.6 - the second-most by an opening pair (or for any wicket) in a T20 World Cup. No other opening pair has managed a 100-run stand so far in this tournament.
154 vs Uganda, 103 vs New Zealand, 8 vs Papua New Guinea, 0 vs West Indies and 118 vs Australia - Gurbaz and Zadran have been phenomenal for Afghanistan in the ongoing 20-over showpiece event in the USA and the West Indies.
The duo started the competition with back-to-back 100-run stands but failed in the next two encounters. In the first Super 8 game against India, Afghanistan broke the partnership and brought in Hazratullah Zazai to open alongside Gubaz, with Zadran batting at No. 3.
The ploy clearly didn’t work as Afghanistan lost all of them in the space of 25 deliveries, with just 23 runs on the board. They lost the game by 47 runs. Afghanistan realised the mistake straightaway and brought the pair back together in a must-win match against Australia.
The two-paced surface at Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent made things extremely difficult for Gurbaz and Zadran at the start of the innings. There were lots of plays and misses and Afghanistan were 11/0 after 3.5 overs.
Gurbaz, in particular, was starting to get desperate but that’s when Pat Cummins went full and the wicketkeeper-batter gave himself a bit of room and tonked it down the ground for a six.
Gurbaz followed it up with another maximum off Josh Hazlewood in the very next over before Zadran got into the act and got a boundary via a flick towards the fine leg region.
These two overs gave the duo some much-needed momentum and Gurbaz and Zadran never looked back thereafter. The two openers also dealt with Australian spinners - Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell - without much trouble.
Australia had to wait 15.5 overs to get the first wicket - the longest they have had to wait in the 20-over format. Marcus Stoinis was the one who got the breakthrough, getting Gurbaz caught at deep square leg after getting hit for a six in the same over.
Gurbaz scored 60 off 49 deliveries, studded with four sixes and as many fours. Meanwhile, Zadran crafted 51 off 48 deliveries, decorated with six fours. And three of their century partnerships have come in the first innings.
Once Gurbaz perished in the penultimate ball of the 16th over, Afghanistan lost momentum in the last four overs. They scored 29 runs and lost five wickets, ending the innings at 148/6.
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