Rahmanullah Gurbaz's Record-Breaking Ton Guides Afghanistan To A Historic ODI Series Win Against South Africa

Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored a record-breaking century to guide Afghanistan to a historic ODI series win against South Africa. In the second ODI, Gurbaz played a stupendous knock of 105 as Afghanistan claimed a resounding 177-run victory against the Proteas.

Gurbaz currently has the most number of hundreds for Afghanistan in ODI cricket. He surpassed Mohammad Shahzad’s tally of six to achieve this historic feat. Just two players – eight each for Sachin Tendulkar and Quinton de Kock — have scored more centuries before turning 23 in men’s ODIs while Virat Kohli had seven tons.

The official X (formerly Twitter) handle of the Afghanistan Cricket Board shared a video of the moment when Gurbaz breached the three-digit mark against South Africa on Friday.

“The moment he brought up his 7th ODI hundred – Rahmanullah Gurbaz,” read the post.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz required 42 innings to reach seven ODI hundreds. So far, only three batters needed fewer innings to achieve their seventh ODI century and they are – the Pakistan duo of Babar Azam (33) and Imam-ul-Haq (36) and former South Africa cricketer Hashim Amla (41).

Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s power-packed knock became an instant hit on social media with many expressing their admiration for the Afghan wicketkeeper-batter.

The Afghanistan cricket team kicked off the ODI series on a promising note with a resounding six-wicket win in the opening contest. Afghanistan carried forward the momentum and secured another convincing victory in the next ODI to clinch a series win. This marked Afghanistan’s very first bilateral ODI series win against a side placed among the top five in the ICC rankings.