Rahmanullah Gurbaz slams 49-ball century against India in Dharamsala
This was the fastest ODI century for any Afghan batter
Afghanistan finish their innings at 194 in the rain-curtailed 25-over-a-side match
Rahmanullah Gurbaz raced to a 48-ball century against India at the HPCA Cricket Stadium, Dharamsala, on Saturday, June 13. Afghanistan were once reeling at 26/3 in 4.3 overs, but Gurbaz had other plans as he kept his aggressive intent and pounced on deliveries that were on his radar to keep the scoring rate going.
The Afghan opener smacked eight boundaries and the same number of sixes during the course of his innings.
India started well with the new ball, with debutant Gurnoor Brar picking the first wicket of the match by sending Ibrahim Zadran back, followed by Arshdeep Singh picking the wickets of Sediqullah Atal and Rahmat Shah in quick succession.
Gurbaz got lucky in the 3rd over of the match when he was batting at just 14, and Arshdeep Singh's delivery thudded into his pads; the umpire rejected the appeal.
India had their reviews intact at that stage, but they decided against it, whereas the replay later showed that the ball would have hit the stumps. Arshdeep Singh looked disappointed after seeing the replay, but it was too late by then.
While things stayed quiet at one end, Gurbaz kept hitting the Indian bowlers at the other and reached his half-century in 25 balls. The Afghan opener took another 23 balls to add another 50 runs to his score and smashed the fastest ODI century for Afghanistan in just 48 balls.
