Ibrahim Zadran and wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz created history for Afghanistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup against debutants Uganda at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. The pair took the attack to Uganda’s bowling and asserted their dominance to set the tone for the side.

Zadran and Gurbaz added 154 runs for the opening wicket in just 87 balls to register the highest stand for any wicket for Afghanistan in their T20 World Cup history. The previous highest for Afghanistan was the 98-run stand for the fifth wicket against Zimbabwe between Mohammad Nabi and Samiullah Shinwari at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2016.

The partnership between Zadran and Gurbaz is only the second hundred-run opening-wicket partnership for Afghanistan in their T20I history. Hazratullah Zazai and Usman Ghani had recorded the first-ever hundred-run opening stand for Afghanistan in T20Is.

Both Ghani and Zazai had scored 236 for the opening wicket against Ireland in Dehradun in 2019.  

Notably, the 154-run partnership between Zadran and Gurbaz is the second-highest opening partnership ever recorded in the history of the marquee tournament. Jos Buttler and Alex Hales hold the record for the highest opening-wicket partnership in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

The English pair had added 170* runs against India in the semifinal of the previous edition in Adelaide to scale the milestone.

Gurbaz and Zadran provide ideal patform for Afghanistan

Gurbaz scored 76 off just 45 balls with the help of four boundaries and as many sixes to dent Uganda’s T20 World Cup debut. He batted at a strike rate of 168.88 and allowed Zadran the time needed to get his eye in. Zadran, 22, took a bit of time to adjust to the conditions in Guyana but took Uganda’s attack to the cleaners, scoring 70 off 46 balls.

Zadran’s knock was studded with nine fours and a maximum. Uganda came back into the contest after breaking the partnership in the 15th over and scripted a late fightback to limit the Afghans to just 183.