AFG Vs NZ, ICC T20 World Cup 2024: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran Enter Record Books

Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran continued their red-hot form in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Following their 154-run stand against Uganda, the Afghanistan opening pair stitched another century partnership, this time 103, against New Zealand on Saturday (India time) in their second group match at Providence Stadium, Guyana. (As It Happened|Scorecard|Full Coverage)

Gurbaz and Zadran, in the process, became the first-ever opening pair in the tournament's history to post 100-run partnerships in successive games.

For the record, they are the second pair to stitch a century stand in back-to-back T20 World Cup games after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The Indian pair, who achieved the feat in the 2014 edition against the West Indies and Bangladesh, however, did so for the second wicket with Kohli batting at No.3.

Overall, Gurbaz and Zadran are the fourth pair in T20 World Cups to have more than one century stand after Adam Gilchrist-Matthew Hayden (Australia), Babar Azam-Mohammed Rizwan (Pakistan) and Rohit-Kohli.

Aussie greats Gilchrist and Hayden achieved the feat in the same edition, in 2007, against England and Sri Lanka; while Azam and Rizwan completed it in two editions -- against India in 2021 and New Zealand in 2022.

Afghanistan Vs New Zealand Recap

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to bowl first -- an intriguing call considering chasing was always a tricky task at Providence Stadium. On Sunday, the West Indies took 19 overs to chase down Papua New Guinea's 136/8, and they also lost five wickets.

Sharing the reasoning behind the call, Williamson said that they wanted to use the pitch first, while Afghan skipper Rashid Khan opined that "T20 is not much about the toss."

Losing the toss proved a blessing in disguise for the Afghans as Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran posted a century opening stand in 13.2 overs despite a slow start -- but still the slowest in terms of scoring rate (7.10) for a 100+run partnership in T20 World Cups. Matt Henry broke the stand in the 15th over, removing Zadran for 44 off 41.

Gurbaz (80 off 56) continued and helped Afghanistan add another 53 runs in the last five overs despite a fightback from the Kiwi bowlers. Azmatullah Omarzai, at No.3, scored a quickfire 22 off 13, but batters following the top three failed to reach double-digit scores.

As it turned out, a total of 159/6 proved more than enough as Afghan bowlers, led by history-making pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi (4/17), dismissed New Zealand for 75 in just 15.2 overs.

Skipper Rashid Khan also claimed a four-wicket haul (4/17) for the best figures in the tournament's history by a captain. The previous best belonged to New Zealand's Daniel Vettori, who claimed 4/20 against India at Johannesburg, South Africa in the inaugural 2007 edition and Zeeshan Maqsood of Oman (4/20) against Papua New Guinea at Al Amerat, Oman in 2021.

Afghanistan now lead Group C with four points (+5.225 net run rate) and next face Papua New Guinea in Tarouba, Trinidad on Friday before wrapping up group engagements with a fixture against the Windies in Gros Islet, St Lucia on Tuesday.

New Zealand will head to Tarouba to face the Windies on Thursday, Uganda on Saturday and Papua New Guinea the following Monday. Two top teams from the group qualify for Super 8s.