Rahmanullah Gurbaz also equalled India great Sachin Tendulkar in a separate ODI list following his heroics in Afghanistan’s third straight ODI series win
Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, on Monday, smashed his eighth ODI century to guide his team to a thrilling five-wicket win against Bangladesh in the third and final ODI in Sharjah and secure a 2-1 victory in the one-day series. With the knock, the 22-year-old eclipsed India greats Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli in an elite ODI batting list.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s century helped Afghanistan win the ODI series against Bangladesh
Chasing 245 in the final match of the series, Bangladesh did deny Gurbaz able assistance from the other end, sending the hosts three down for 81 in 20.1 overs, where the opener did the bulk of the scoring. However, he forged a match-winning fourth-wicket century stand with Azmatullah Omarzai as Afghanistan wrapped up the game with 10 balls to spare.
Gurbaz laid the foundation of Afghanistan’s win with 101 off 120, laced with seven sixes and five fours in the series decider. Omarzai (70 not out) mixed caution with aggression and while Mohammad Nabi provided a decent contribution with his unbeaten 34 off 27.
With the century, Gurbaz, at 22 years and 349 days, became the second-youngest ODI batter to eight centuries, after South Africa’s Quinton de Kock (22 years and 312 days). He pipped Sachin (22 years and 357 days), Kohli (23 years and 27 days) and former Pakistan captain Babar Azam (23 years and 280 days) to script the feat.
Meanwhile, with his tally of eight tons, Gurbaz now stands at par with Sachin and De Kock for more centuries before turning 23, eclipsing Kohli (7).
Third consecutive ODI series win for Afghanistan
Earlier in the evening, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat, with openers Tanzid Hasan and Soumya Sarkar stitching a 53-run stand inside the first powerplay. But Afghanistan bounced back in quick time with four wickets, leaving the Mehidy Hasan Miraz-led side reeling at 72-4.
The Bangladesh captain and Mahmudullah took charge, sharing a valiant 145-run partnership off 188 balls, and took the visitors to 244-8, with Omarzai returning with figures of 4-37 in seven overs.
Mahmudullah missed out on his century but was Bangladesh’s top-scorer with a run-a-ball 98 while Mehidy, who was playing his 100th ODI, batted slowly but notched a half-century (66).
The series victory was Afghanistan’s third in a row in this format, having earlier beaten South Africa 2-1 and Ireland 2-0 in their respective three-match series in the United Arab Emirates.
