Gurbaz, Zadran hit tons as Bangladesh need record 332 to level series

Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran hit centuries and put together a record partnership as the visitors posted a daunting 331-9 in their 50 overs against Bangladesh in the second One-Day International of the three-match series at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Saturday.

Gurbaz and Zadran formed a whopping 256-run opening stand off 217 balls , the highest ever ODI stand for Afghanistan and the fourth highest against Bangladesh in all ODIs, to set Afghanistan up for a towering total after they were asked to bat first.

Gurbaz was the aggressor of the two, smashing 13 fours and eight sixes on way to scoring 145 off 125 deliveries, his highest score in ODIs.

Zadran took more time to reach the triple-figure mark, finishing on 100 off 119 ball with the help of nine fours and one six.

Bangladesh bowlers had a difficult day at the middle as they had to wait till the 37th over to make the first breakthrough.

After that, Bangladesh bowlers took wickets in regular succession and conceded 75 runs in final 84 balls to restrict Afghanistan below 350.

Shakib Al Hasan was the pick of the bowlers and finished with 2-50. Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman and Hasan Mahmud also chipped in with a couple of wickets each.

The Tigers seemingly misread the pitch as they invited the visitors to bat first on a pitch that had nothing on offer for the pacers.

The fast bowlers were also guilty of losing their line and overstepping a couple of times early on, which helped the Afghan openers ease into the innings.

The ineffective bowling allowed Afghanistan to reach 67-0 after 10 overs and their dominance only compounded from there.

Gurbaz, who completed his fifty off 48 balls, continued punishing every bowler stand-in skipper Litton Das summoned to the attack and charged towards his fourth century in ODI cricket.

After reaching the three figure mark, Gurbaz became even more relentless, scoring his next 45 runs off just 24 balls.

Gurbaz seemed intent to take Afghanistan to a score of well over 350 before Shakib stopped him on his tracks, trapping him leg-before wicket.

Zadran then lost three partners in Rahmat Shah (two), Hashmatullah Shahidi (two) and Najibulah Zadran (10) as he kept inching closer to his century.

Zadran finally reached the magical figures with a single off Mustafiz in the 46th over before losing his wicket to the same bowler just one ball later after top-edging a pull shot which Nazmul Hossain Shanto caught at mid-wicket.

Wickets kept tumbling in the remaining overs but veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi hit an unbeaten 25 off 15 balls which took their score over 330.

Bangladesh have never chased 332 in an ODI. Their highest ever successful chase in ODIs is 322, which was against West Indies in the 2019 ICC World Cup.

The Tigers will have to break their own record if they are to level the series and avoid suffering their first ever ODI series defeat against Afghanistan.

Bangladesh also have another worry at the halfway stage of the game as their pacer Ebadot Hossain had to leave the field during the last over of his spell after a nudge with umpire during his run-up caused him to fall over and seemingly hurt his knee.