Dharamsala, June 13: Rahmanullah Gurbaz produced a brilliant century to lead Afghanistan's fightback in the first ODI against India at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Saturday. The wicket-keeper batsman reached his hundred in just 48 balls and remained unbeaten as Afghanistan raced to 135/3 after 14.4 overs in the rain-shortened 25-over contest. Gurbaz has smashed the fastest-ever century by an Afghan batter in ODI history.
Afghanistan lost three early wickets, with debutant Gurnoor Brar giving India the first breakthrough by dismissing Ibrahim Zadran. Arshdeep Singh then removed Sediqullah Atal and Rahmat Shah, while ODI debutant Harsh Dubey contributed with a sharp catch in the field. Despite the early setbacks, Gurbaz took control of the innings with an aggressive counterattack.
Gurbaz dominated the Indian bowling attack, smashing eight fours and eight sixes during his explosive knock. He found good support from captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, who remained unbeaten on 26. Their partnership helped Afghanistan recover strongly and put themselves in a good position heading into the final overs of the innings.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was dismissed by Nitish Reddy after he scored 102 runs off 51 balls at an impressive strike-rate of 200. He was clean bowled by Nitish Reddy, who bowled a perfect yorker to get rid of Gurbaz.
