Rahmat Shah becomes first Afghanistan batter with 500 Test runs
Rahmat Shah has dug hard for Afghanistan on Day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the SSC cricket ground on Friday. The veteran Afghanistan batter hammered his fourth Test fifty while also becoming the highest run-scorer for Afghanistan in Test cricket. He also accomplished the 500-run Test milestone. His 91-run knock helped Afghanistan reach 155/5 in the first innings.
Highest run-scorer for Afghanistan in Test cricket
Rahmat has been a consistent run-scorer for Afghanistan across all three formats. With his 17th run during this knock against the Lankan Lions, Rahmat surpassed Asghar Afghan's tally of 440 runs. The batter owns 4,000-plus runs across formats for Afghanistan and is their fourth-highest run-scorer overall. He is the highest run-scorer for Afghanistan in ODI cricket (3,589).
First Afghanistan batter with four Test fifties
Rahmat became the first Afghanistan batter with four Test fifties. He also owns a century in this format. The dasher has surpassed other Afghanistan batters like Ibrahim Zadran and Afghan, who have hammered three Test fifties each.
Rahmat Shah held the Afghanistan innings together
Rahmat was out in the middle in the first over of the match as Ibrahim was dismissed early. He stitched a 57-run partnership with Noor Ali Zadran to steady the ship. Later, he added 52 runs with skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi before Afghanistan lost two quick wickets. Rahmat consolidated by adding 45 runs with Ikram Alikhil before the former was dismissed by Prabath Jayasuriya.
A look at his Test numbers
Playing his eighth Test match, Rahmat has amassed 515 runs at an average of 34.33. As mentioned, this was his fourth Test fifty while he has slammed a solitary ton in this format. The 30-year-old hammered his first Test century against Bangladesh in 2019. His knock helped Afghanistan win the historic Test match in Chattogram. This was his maiden Test match against Sri Lanka.
How has the match proceeded?
Bowling first, SL removed Ibrahim early on as Rahmat and Noor added 57 runs together before the latter was dismissed. Later, the former added a 52-run partnership with Shahidi but soon Afghanistan lost two quick wickets. Eventually, Rahmat was dismissed as the visitors were 168/5 at Tea with Alikhil (21*) and Qais Ahmed (8*) at the crease. Vishwa and Jayasuriya claimed two wickets each.
