Kingstown (St. Vincent): A Oceans of records have toppled during the Super Eight clash between Australia and Afghanistan in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 at Arnos Vale Ground here on Sunday.
Winning the toss, Australia opted to bowl first where cricket experts and pundits thought otherwise. However, both teams got what they wanted as Afghanistan were asked to bat first on the tricky surface. Openers Rahmanilah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, who have emerged as the best opening pair of the edition so far, did what they have done this season. They took their time scoring run-a-ball, but once they got familiar with the pace and bounce of the pitch, broke the shackles and escalated, forging the massive 118-run stand.
It was the third hundred-run opening stand between the pair in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. Notably, none of the other openers of other teams have managed to do it once throughout the ongoing competition. With this third-century stand, the duo has become the pair with the most 100-run partnerships in a single edition of the T20 World Cups. They have also equalled the record of Pakistan's pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan for hundred-plus partnerships in the history of the marquee event. It was also the third-highest partnership stitched up against Australia in the 17-year history of the mega event.
However, Australia made a comeback by breaking the partnership. Following Gurbaz's wicket, the Asian side's batting line-up collapsed like a house of cards as Afghanistan could manage to add only 30 runs.
The game also witnessed Pat Cummins becoming the first bowler to take back-to-back hat-tricks in T20I cricet. The right-arm pacer accomplished the landmark against Bangladesh in the first Super 8 game and went on to pull it off against Rashid Khan's men. Notably, he completed his hat-trick in between the same overs -- 18th and 20th in both games. Afghanistan's captain Rashid Khan, Karim Janat and Gulbadin Naib were the victims of Cummins' second hat-trick.
Before Cummins, there were only four players who had claimed two hat-tricks in T20Is. Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga, New Zealand quick Tim Southee, Serbia's Mark Pavlovic and Malta's Waseem Abbas have achieved the feat before Cummins.
Adam Zampa, who removed the set-batter Ibrahim Zardan (51) and Azmatullah Omarzai (2) in a single over, has equalled the Anrich Nortje's record of taking at least one wicket in 16 consecutive innings of the T20 World Cup match.
With their maiden defeat against Afghanistan, Australia's unbeaten run of eight matches has ended. Albeit, they now hold the record for the most consecutive wins in the T20 World Cups.
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