T20 World Cup: Gurbaz, Ibrahim own these partnership records
Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran scripted history with a 118-run partnership against Australia in the Super 8 Match 48 of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup. Their efforts helped the Afghan team register a historic 21-run win. The duo has been sensational in the ongoing tourney. Here we look their partnership feats in T20 WC history.
Three century stands in single edition
Earlier in the tournament, Gurbaz and Ibrahim added 154 runs against Uganda and 103 runs against New Zealand. With the 118-run partnership against Australia, they became the first pair to register three century partnerships in a T20 WC edition. Overall, they became the second pair after Pakistan's Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan with three 100-plus stands in the competition's history.
Second-highest opening stand
As mentioned, the two openers added 154 runs against Uganda at Guyana's Providence Stadium. They hence recorded the second-highest opening stand in the T20 WC history. They are only behind England's Alex Hales and Jos Buttler, who added 170* runs against India in 2022. Overall, the Afghanistan stars registered the fourth-highest stand in the history of the gala competition.
First opening pair to accomplish this feat
Gurbaz and Ibrahim's century stands against Uganda and NZ came in consecutive games. They are the only opening pair to record successive century stands in T20 WCs. India's Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are the other batters with consecutive 100-plus stands in the competition. They accomplished the feat in the 2014 edition (for the second wicket).
Fourth pair with this feat
Gurbaz and Ibrahim became the fourth opening pair to record multiple century stands in the tournament's history. Besides Rohit and Kohli (2 in 2014), they joined Australia's Adam Gilchrist-Matthew Hayden (2 in 2007) and Babar-Rizwan (2 in 2021). Meanwhile, no other Afghanistan pair has recorded a 100-plus stand in the T20 World Cup.
