Ibrahim Zadran scripted history after becoming the first Afghanistan batter to slam a century in the Champions Trophy. The youngster achieved this feat in the Group B fixture against England on Wednesday (February 26) at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Zadran missed out on scoring big in their tournament opener against South Africa where Kagiso Rabada dismissed him for 17, but he made amends against the Three Lions.
After Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first, Ibrahim Zadran put his head down and brought up his half-century off 65 balls amidst failures from Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal and Rahmat Shah.
The 23-year-old forged a crucial 103-run partnership with Hashmatullah Shahidi (40) for the fourth wicket before Adil Rashid dismissed the latter. In the third ball of the 37th over, Ibrahim took a single off Liam Livingstone on the on-side to reach his three-figure mark off 106 balls – his sixth hundred in ODIs.
Following the milestone, Zadran went berserk and scored 77 runs in his next 40 deliveries to finish with 177 off 146 balls - highest-ever individual score in the history of Champions Trophy. His stunning knock, laced with 12 boundaries and 6 sixes, propelled Afghanistan to a mammoth 325/7 in 50 overs.
Cricket fraternity showered rich praise on Ibrahim Zadran for his brilliant innings in an all-important Champions Trophy match against England.
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