Afghanistan altered the record books on Saturday by registered the highest-ever score in T20Is against Ireland in Dehradun. Hazratullah Zazai’s unbeaten 162 off 62 balls along with Usman Ghani’s 48-ball 73 guided the home team to register a mammoth 278/3 during the 2nd face-off of the 3-match rubber.
Afghanistan has now surpassed the previous highest total of 263 for 3, set by Australia against Sri Lanka in Pallekele in 2016.
Opting to bat first, the Afghani opening duo caused massive fireworks at the top of the innings at the picturesque Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. They stitched an unbelievable 236-run stand for the first wicket to share the highest partnership in T20Is, surpassing Aaron Finch-D’Arcy Short’s stand against Zimbabwe in 2018.
The Irishmen may have found the much-needed breakthrough in the 18th over as Boyd Rankin managed to get rid of Ghani but it was too late by then.
Zazai ran through an insipid bowling attack to play his career-best innings, slamming 7 boundaries and 16 sixes to rephrase the world record of most maximums hit by a batsman in a T20I innings. He surpassed Aaron Finch’s record of 14 sixes which he slammed against England in 2013 at Southampton.
The 23-year-old reached his century off just 42 deliveries—the third-fastest in T20Is—and then went on to breach the 150-run mark after another 16 deliveries.
Meanwhile, wicketkeeper Shafiqullah Shafiq (7) and former skipper Mohammad Nabi (17) made some minor contributions but Zazai made sure that their dismissals shouldn’t affect the current momentum. He wrapped the innings with a last-ball four, taking his team to a new height in the shortest format of the game.
A total of 22 sixes were hit in the Afghani innings which set another world record, bettering the one set by Windies against Indian in 2016 at Lauderhill.