Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz is reaping the benefits of balance and getting into positions early at the crease. The dashing opener scored a scintillating hundred to help the visitors earn a maiden ODI series win over Bangladesh by winning the second ODI by 142 runs.
Afghanistan openers Gurbaz (145) and Ibrahim Zadran (100) set up the victory for their side with a massive partnership of 256 runs after being sent into bat and laid the foundation for a massive total of 331 runs on the board. Gurbaz smashed Bangladeshi bowlers to all parts of the ground and struck 13 fours and eight sixes.
"During the last two days I was just working on my balance and position and I think if I am in good position then scoring is not difficult for me. I focused hard to work on these things.
"I give credit to coach and captain as they supported me in tough situations and every time I didn't score they told me that I can do it."
Afghanistan head coach Jonathon Trott looked relieved with Gurbaz coming up with a timely ton. “I think it was about Gurbaz being as still as possible at release,” said Trott. “Sometimes he is moving. Sometimes a player as talented as Gurbaz can get wrapped up in technique instead of just watching the ball. So it was just making the game as simple as possible with the hand-eye coordination that Gurbaz has. Just being simple in the mind technically as well.
“He can score everywhere around the ground. He sometimes rushes it and thinks that every game is a T20. The longer Gurbaz bats for us, the more chance we have of winning.”
