Afghanistan opener Ibrahim Zadran produced a knock for the ages at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday to power his team to their highest score in ODI World Cup history against five-time champions Australia.
Zadran carried his bat and remained unbeaten on 129 off 143 balls with 8 fours and three sixes to help Afghanistan post 291 for 5 in 50 overs, their highest ODI World Cup score.
When Tendulkar paid surprise visit to Afghan camp
The 21-year-old became the third highest individual scorer against the Aussies and thanked Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar for motivating him and his teammates before this match.
Tendulkar had visited the Afghan camp at the Wankhede Stadium on the eve of this match and encouraged them to do well in the remainder of this tournament.
What Zadran told Master Blaster before Aus clash
Zadran, who became the first Afghan batter to score a World Cup century, revealed that he even told Tendulkar that he will try to bat like the Indian cricket icon when he faces Australia.
"I had a good chat with Sachin Tendulkar, he shared his experience and I said before the match that I will bat like Sachin Tendulkar, he gave me a lot of energy and confidence," Zadran said after smashing his fifth ODI hundred.
The highlight of Afghanistan's innings were the partnerships that Zadran was able to stitch with Rahmat Shah (83), Hashmatullah Shahidi (52) and Rashid Khan (58*), which took their score near the 300-run mark. Shah and Rashid contributed with
The Aussies will now need to complete a record chase if they are to book their semi-final ticket to join India and South Africa in the knockouts.
