Rahmat Shah slams 52 versus Netherlands, surpasses 3,500 ODI runs
Rahmat Shah continued his purple patch with another crucial fifty against Netherlands in match number 34 of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in Lucknow. The veteran Afghanistan batter registered his 26th ODI fifty and his consecutive third fifty in this format. His 54-ball 52 was laced with eight boundaries. Once again he played a solid knock to help his side win.
Rahmat's third consecutive ODI fifty
Afghanistan lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the sixth over and since then, Rahmat came to the crease and played with great ease. He batted with patience and capitalized on the loose balls. Afghanistan lost Ibrahim Zadran in the 11th over before Rahmat added 74 runs along with Hashmatullah Shahidi, taking the total beyond the 120-run mark. Eventually, Saqib Zulfiqar dismissed Rahmat via caught and bowled.
Rahmat races past 3,500 ODI runs
Rahmat, who is Afghanistan's highest run-getter in ODI cricket has raced past 3,500 runs in this format. He currently owns 3,533 runs in 104 matches at an average of 36.80. Besides slamming 26 fifties, he has also hammered five centuries. Among Afghanistan batters, only Mohammad Shahzad (6) owns more ODI tons. In the 2023 WC, he amassed 264 runs in seven matches at 52.80.
Over 500 ODI World Cup runs for Afghanistan
Courtesy of this knock, Rahmat became the first Afghanistan batter to complete 500 runs in the ODI World Cup. He has amassed 518 runs in 16 ODI WC matches at 34.53. Rahmat has smashed four fifties in this competition. Notably, he is Afghanistan's highest run-getter in the ODI World Cup. In 2023, Rahmat has slammed 450 runs from 16 ODIs at 30 (50s: 4).
Second-fastest ODI fifty for Rahmat
Rahmat reached his 50-run mark in only 47 deliveries and recorded his second-fastest fifty in ODIs. As per Cricket.com, his fastest ODI fifty came against Zimbabwe in 2018 in 44 deliveries. Also, this is Afghanistan's fourth-fastest fifty in the ODI World Cup.
Rahmat completes 2,000 ODI runs in neutral venues
Rahmat also completed 2,000 ODI runs in neutral venues, being Afghanistan's leading run-scorer in these matches. He owns 2,032 runs in 62 neutral venue matches at 36.28 (100s: 3, 50s: 15) Among Afghanistan batters, Nabi is in second place with 1,775 runs in neutral venues. He has also amassed 1,501 runs in 42 away (home of opposition) matches at 37.52 (100s: 2, 50s:11).
Here's the match summary
Wesley Barresi departed early on for the Dutch before Max ODowd (42) and Colin Ackermann shared a 70-run stand. Thereafter, Afghanistan dominated the show and restricted the Netherlands to 113/6. Engelbrecht's heroics helped the Dutch get past 150. Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad bowled well. In response, a brilliant stand between Rahmat and Shahidi helped the Afghans beat the Netherlands by seven wickets.
