Afghanistan on Saturday took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh after Rahmanullah Gurbaz slammed his career best 145 and Ibrahim Zadran added 100 to propel Afghanistan to 331-9 against a hapless Bangladesh.
The opening duo added 256 runs for the first wicket, registering the highest-ever partnership for Afghanistan for any wicket after Karim Sadiq and Mohammad Shahzad’s record of 218 runs for the second wicket against Scotland in 2010.
Gurbaz was eventually dismissed for 145, trapped leg-before by Shakib Al Hasan in the 37th over of the innings.
Gurbaz and Zadran also set the fourth highest partnership for any wicket against Bangladesh in ODI cricket, with Ishan Kishan and Virat Kohli’s 290-run stand for the second wicket in 2022 taking first place. It was also the second highest ODI partnership for the opening wicket against Bangladesh.
Gurbaz, whose fourth ODI ton came from a 125-ball knock of 13 fours and eight sixes while Zadran brought his fourth ODI hundred off 118 balls.
Bangladesh, who lost the first match by 17 runs on Wednesday, had opted to bowl first after stand-in skipper Liton Das won the toss. But the hosts were visibly demoralized by this week’s drama involving regular skipper Tamim Iqbal, who shocked his teammates by announcing his immediate retirement on Thursday only to rescind his resignation a day later.
Tamim withdrew his retirement after meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday. He later said he had been ordered to change his mind. He will instead take a six-week sabbatical and be back in contention for the Asia Cup.
There is however one more game left. The 3rd ODI will be played on Tuesday, July 11.
Speaking after the match, Afghanistan’s captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said he was very happy with the win and that it had been a “great performance by the team”. He said the openers batted brilliantly and that although the bowlers had not been “up to the mark in the previous series” they had worked hard and the results of this were clearly evident in Saturday’s match.
Gurbaz was meanwhile named Player of the Match.
Litton Das meanwhile said while his team won the toss and elected to bowl, the bowlers failed to take advantage of this and gave away a lot of runs.
He said his team hopes to come back stronger in the next game.
