Afghanistan's swashbuckling opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been known to be a power-hitter. He has shown that in quite a few IPL matches for Kolkata Knight Riders. He gave yet another example of his hitting prowess in the second ODI against Pakistan in Hambantota on Thursday. The 21-year-old Gurbaz hit run-a-ball 151 with the help of 14 fours and three sixes to guide his team to 300. He shared an opening stand of 227 with Ibrahim Zadran, who scored a 101-ball 80, after Afghanistan won the toss and batted.
Afghanistan need a win to level the three-match series after losing the first match by 142 runs, and Gurbaz's knock came at the right time. Gurbaz's previous best was 145 against Bangladesh in Chattogram last month.
As he went over 150, Gurbaz became the first wicketkeeper-batter to cross the 150-mark against Pakistan. MS Dhoni till now held the record for highest individual score by a wicketkeeper against Pakistan. He scored 148 against Pakistan in an ODI in Visakhapatnam in 2005.
Gurbaz also went past Pakistan captain Babar Azam to become the third-fastest to reach five ODI tons. Babar took 25 innings to reach the milestone while Gurbaz got to the mark in two innings less. Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq and South Africa's Quinton de Kock hold the joint-fastest record to five ODI tons. Both took 19 innings.
