Rahmat Shah clobbers his sixth ODI fifty against SL: Stats
Rahmat Shah was once again the pick of the Afghanistan batters against Sri Lanka in the second ODI in Pallekele. He hammered his 27th ODI fifty while slamming his sixth against SL. His 63 was studded with seven boundaries. While he was batting, it looked like Afghanistan had a chance. Eventually, Afghanistan were bundled out for 153 as they lost by 155 runs.
A confident knock from Rahmat
Rahmat came out in the middle after Afghanistan lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the seventh over of the innings. He continued his red-hot form as he stitched a 97-run partnership with Ibrahim Zadran. Rahmat played the role of an aggressor in this partnership. When they were batting together, Afghanistan had some hope of winning the match. Eventually, Rahmat was dismissed by Wanindu Hasaranga.
Most runs for Afghanistan in ODI cricket
Rahmat is the highest run-scorer for Afghanistan in ODIs. He has amassed 3,659 runs from 108 matches at an average of 36.59. In addition to the 27 fifties, the 30-year-old has also smoked five centuries. Notably, he is the only Afghan batter in ODIs with 3,500-plus runs. Mohammad Nabi trails him with 3,345 runs. His highest score of 114 came against Zimbabwe in 2018.
Fourth-highest international runs for Afghanistan
In November 2023, Rahmat completed 4,000 runs in international cricket. He has now raced to 4,231 runs from 117 international matches. He is the fourth Afghanistan batter with this record behind Nabi (5,345), Mohammad Shahzad (4,844) and Asghar Afghan (4,246). He has amassed 569 runs in eight Tests at 35.56. He has returned with 3,659 runs in ODIs and three runs from one T20I.
Rahmat averages 40.08 against Sri Lanka in ODIs
Rahmat is the second-highest run-getter for Afghanistan against SL in ODI cricket. He owns 481 runs against SL in 12 ODIs at 40.08. The 30-year-old has hammered six fifties in this format. Of the Afghan batters, only Ibrahim with 556 runs has more than him.
Here's the match summary
Batting first, SL lost their openers within the first ten overs but Sadeera Samawickrama and Kusal Mendis added 103 runs together. Later, Charith Asalanka and Janith Liyanage produced a fantastic 111-run partnership. Asalanka also added 50 runs with Hasaranga as SL posted 308/6. In reply, Afghanistan only managed 153 thanks to fifties from Ibrahim and Rahmat. Hasaranga starred for SL with 4/27.