Rahmanullah Gurbaz becomes second Afghanistan batter with 100 T20I sixes
What's the story
Bangladesh defeated Afghanistan by a nail-biting eight runs in their T20 Asia Cup clash in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. The win helped Bangladesh retain their second spot in the group with two wins and a loss, totaling four points. Though the Afghan side came second in the contest, their star opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz accomplished a special milestone. He became just the second batter from his country to complete 100 T20I sixes. Here are his stats.
Knock
Gurbaz made 35 in Afghanistan's defeat
Afghanistan were off to a poor start while chasing 155. Nasum Ahmed struck on the first ball for Bangladesh, dismissing Sediqullah Atal for a golden duck. Ibrahim Zadran and Gurbaz tried to stabilize the innings with some boundaries but were dismissed soon after. The latter scored 35 runs from 31 balls with the help of two fours and as many sixes before falling to Rishad Hossain. Afghanistan were eventually folded for 146.
Elite list
Gurbaz joins Nabi
With his first six of the contest, Gurbaz attained the feat of 100 maximums in T20Is, as per ESPNcricinfo. He now owns 101 sixes. Mohammad Nabi (111) is the only other player with 100-plus sixes for the team. Najibullah Zadran, who owns 97 maximums but has not played a T20I in over a year, is the only other Afghanistan international with at least 80 sixes.
Stats
Gurbaz races past 1,800 T20I runs
With this knock, Gurbaz became the fourth Afghanistan batter to accomplish 1,800 T20I runs. He has joined Nabi (2,297), Mohammad Shahzad (2,048), and Najibullah (1,830). Gurbaz has now raced to 1,824 runs across 73 T20Is at 24.98 (SR: 132.36). The tally includes 10 fifties and a ton. Besides 101 sixes, Gurbaz has also hit 138 fours in the format.
T20 cricket
350 sixes in T20 cricket
Meanwhile, Gurbaz also completed 350 sixes in T20 cricket with his first six (now 351). Having played 234 games in the format, the star opener has raced to 5,590 runs at an average of 24.73. Gurbaz's strike rate reads 145.38. He owns 34 fifties and two centuries in the format. The batter has tallied 442 fours in the 20-over format.