Ibrahim Zadran records highest WC score by an Afghanistan opener
Afghanistan batter Ibrahim Zadran slammed his fifth ODI half-century in the ICC Cricket World Cup match against Pakistan. The 21-year-old scored 87 while chasing 283 against Pakistan at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Zadran shared a 130-run opening stand with Rahmanullah Gurbaz for the first wicket. The former smashed the highest WC score by an Afghan opener. He also completed 1,000 ODI runs.
Zadran's fifth half-century in ODIs
Zadran completely dominated the Pakistan bowlers along with his opening partner Gurbaz. Both Zadran and Gurbaz exhibited their attacking strokes throughout the first Powerplay. While Gurbaz departed, Zadran scored his fifth ODI half-century despite limping around due to cramps. The latter went on to smash 87 off 113 balls, a knock laced with 10 fours. Hasan Ali dismissed Zadran in the 34th over.
Zadran misses his maiden WC ton
Zadran could have become the first Afghanistan batter with a century in ODI World Cups. Samiullah Shinwari holds the record for smashing the highest score for Afghanistan in the World Cup. He scored a vital 96 against Scotland in the 2015 edition. Notably, no other Afghan batter has more than 90 runs in this regard.
The highest WC score by an Afghanistan opener
Zadran has become only the fourth Afghanistan opener to record a 50+ score in the ODI World Cups. Gurbaz (80 vs England, Delhi, 2023), Rahmat Shah (62 vs West Indies, Leeds, WC 2019), and Javed Ahmadi (51 vs Scotland, Dunedin, WC 2015) are the other three. However, Zadran now has the highest score by an Afghanistan opener in the World Cup.
Fastest Afghan batter to 1,000 ODI runs
Zadran became the fastest Afghanistan batter to complete 1,000 runs in ODI cricket. He took 24 innings of as many games to complete 1,000 runs in the format. Zadran went past his opening partner Gurbaz, who achieved this feat in 27 innings. Only 16 batters have reached the milestone faster than Ibrahim. Zadran became the 14th Afghanistan batter with 1,000 ODI runs.
