Afghanistan’s opening pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran became only the second duo to achieve three 100-run partnerships in T20 World Cups during the Super 8 clash against Australia in Kingstown, St. Vincent on Sunday.
Pakistan's Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are the only other pair to have combined for three century partnerships in World Cups, spanning two editions (2021 and 2022). The Afghan duo, however, have scored all three century partnerships in the same series.
Gurbaz and Zadran also became the second most prolific pair in T20 World Cup history, following their Pakistani counterparts, with 383 runs in five innings.
The 118-run stand between the two was also the third-highest partnership against Australia in T20 World Cup history.
Most century partnerships in T20 World Cups
Babar Azam / Mohammad Rizwan (PAK) - 3
Rahmanullah Gurbaz / Ibrahim Zadran (AFG) - 3*
Adam Gilchrist / Matthew Hayden (AUS) - 2
Alex Hales / Eoin Morgan (ENG) - 2
Mahela Jayawardene / Kumar Sangakkara (SL) - 2
Virat Kohli / Rohit Sharma (IND) - 2
David Warner / Shane Watson (AUS) - 2
Most partnership runs in a single T20 World Cup edition
Babar Azam / Mohammad Rizwan (PAK) - 411 runs in 6 innings
Rahmanullah Gurbaz / Ibrahim Zadran (AFG) - 383 runs in 5 innings*
Jos Buttler / Alex Hales (ENG) - 368 runs in 6 innings
Adam Gilchrist / Matthew Hayden (AUS) - 335 runs in 6 innings
KL Rahul / Rohit Sharma (IND) - 321 runs in 5 innings
Chasing a target of 149 runs, Australia were all out for 127 runs in 19.2 overs. This was the first loss for Australia against Afghanistan in six international matches.
Apart from Glenn Maxwell's 59 runs in 41 balls, it was a sorry batting display from Australia as the second highest scorer in the innings were the extras with 16.
Naveen-ul-Haq claimed figures of 3-20 but the star of the show was Gulbadin Naib, who clinched 4-20 and was declared Player of the Match.
Earlier, Australia won the toss and decided to bowl first against Afghanistan.
Batting first, Afghanistan posted 148-6 in their allotted 20 overs courtesy fifties by openers Gurbaz and Zadran.
Gurbaz (60 off 49) and Zadran (51 off 48) become the first-ever pair with three century stands in a T20I series after notching up 118 runs for the first wicket.
Pat Cummins led the charge for Australia at the backend of the innings after picking up another hat-trick. The pacer now has two hat-tricks in two back-to-back games and on both occasions, it was across two different overs.
Cummins dismissed Rashid Khan, Karim Janat and Gulbadin Naib to claim a hat-trick.
Cummins and Zampa claimed three and two wickets, respectively, with both conceding 28 runs in four overs.
