Azmatullah Omarzai completes 1,000 ODI runs with 67 vs Australia
What's the story
The rising star of Afghan cricket, Azmatullah Omarzai, has completed 1,000 ODI runs.
He became the joint-third fastest from his nation to accomplish the milestone.
Omarzai reached the milestone with his 34th run in Afghanistan's final league game in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy against Australia in Lahore.
He went on to play a vital 67-run knock. Here are his stats.
DYK
Omarzai equals Shah's record
Omarzai made his ODI debut in January 2021 against Ireland in Abu Dhabi.
He took just 31 innings of 39 games to complete 1,000 runs.
As per ESPNcricinfo, Rahmat Shah also took as many innings to accomplish the milestone.
Only Ibrahim Zadran (24) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (27) have reached the milestone faster among Afghanistan batters.
Stats
Here are his ODI numbers
Omarzai's 63-ball 67 was laced with five maximums and a four.
Playing his 39th ODI, Omarzai has raced to 1,033 runs at 46.95.
The tally now includes eight fifties besides a ton. He has also scalped 36 wickets with his right-arm pace at 29.69.
Omarzai managed 22 runs in his only preceding ODI outing against the Aussies, which came in the 2023 WC.
Feats
Omarzai's World Cup 2023 performance and records
In the 2023 World Cup, Omarzai scored 353 runs at 70.60, becoming one of only eight players to score more than 350 runs from No. 5 or lower in a single WC edition.
Meanwhile, Omarzai scored 41 runs besides claiming a fifer (5/58) in his preceding outing against England.
He scored 18 runs and picked up a wicket in Afghanistan's opener vs South Africa.
Career
ICC ODI Cricket of the Year
It is worth noting that Omarzai was named the ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year 2024.
His right-arm seam-bowling and handy batting skills played a key role in Afghanistan's success last year.
He scored 417 runs at an average of 52.12 besides scalping 17 wickets at 20.47.
His individual brilliance was instrumental in Afghanistan's four consecutive ODI series victories.
Knock
Omarzai aces the finisher's role
Omarzai arrived with the scorecard reading 159/4.
He was watchful early on as prominent names like Hashmatullah Shahidi (20) and Mohammad Nabi (1) fell cheaply.
The all-rounder hence had to operate alongside the tail-enders. Omarzai opened up his arms in the death overs and clobbered several maximums.
He was eventually dismissed by Ben Dwarshuis in the final over as Afghanistan finished at 273/10.