Afghanistan opener Ibrahim Zadran etched his name on record books with an unbeaten 129-run knock against Australia at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Zadran became the first Afghan batter to score a century in World Cups. Also, he surpassed India’s Shikhar Dhawan to register the third-highest individual score by a batter against Australia in World Cups.
The record belongs to Zimbabwe's Neil Johnson who scored an unbeaten 132 against Steve Waugh-led Australia at Lord's in World Cup 1999. Also, New Zealand's Chris Harris had scored 130 against Mark Taylor-led Australia in the 1996 edition. Dhawan had scored 117 against Australia at the Oval in the 2019 edition of the tournament. So far, only five openers have scored a century against Australia in World Cups. The other two openers on the list are South Africa's Quinton de Kock and Herschelle Gibbs. De Kock scored 109 last month whereas Gibbs scored 101 in 1999.
Earlier, Hashmatullah Shahidi had won the toss and opted to bat first. Afghanistan lost the wicket of Rahmaullah Gurbaz in the eighth over. Zadran got to his half-century from 62 balls with a boundary off Mitchell Starc in the 18th over. He also broke his teammate Rahmat Shah's record for most ODI runs in a calendar year.
After Shah got out to Glenn Maxwell, Shahidi could not do much damage either. After Azmatullah Omarzai contributed with a cameo, Zadran reached his maiden World Cup century from 131 balls in the 44th over. The previous highest individual score by an Afghan batter in World Cups belonged to Samiullah Shinwari who scored 96 against Scotland in 2015.
The 21-year-old accelerated after reaching the three figures. He hit Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, and Starc for one six each. In the last over, Rashid did not give Zadran strike and hit Starc for two sixes and a four. Zadran remained unbeaten on the other end with 129 runs from 143 balls featuring eight fours and three sixes. His perfect anchor knock helped Afghanistan post 291/5 on the board.
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