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Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit his eighth ODI hundred to drive Afghanistan’s chase against Bangladesh at Sharjah, and in doing so equalled a notable record, shared by Sachin Tendulkar and Quinton de Kock.
Gurbaz turns 23 years old in just over two weeks’ time, and the two aforementioned players are the only others to ton up eight times in ODIs while aged 22 or younger. He pulled ahead of Virat Kohli, the only other player with seven ODI hundreds before turning 23.
The series was level at 1-1 heading into the decider, with each side defending low-ish totals – by modern standards – with comfort in the first two games. Afghanistan won by 92 runs defending 235 in the opener as Bangladesh suffered a seismic collapse. In the second, Bangladesh put up 252-7 and stopped a run of poor results with a 68-run win.
In the third ODI, Bangladesh put up another score in a similar range, boosted by a gritty half-century from Mehidy Hasan Miraz and a run-a-ball 98 from the veteran Mahmudullah. But chasing 245, Afghanistan put up a much better fist than the first two chasing sides in the series, with Gurbaz’s century the dominant hand.
His hundred, laced with five fours and seven sixes, allowed Afghanistan to navigate an otherwise-wobbly top-order performance, with no one else in the top four making it to 15. Azmatullah Omarzai, at No.5, offered support in a century stand, carrying on to make a match-winning, unbeaten 70 after his four-for earlier in the day. Mohammad Nabi contributed 34 not our to seal a series win.
Gurbaz’s century tally is notable for someone so young and for someone so early into their career. Only Babar Azam (44) and Hashim Amla (43) have needed fewer innings to reach eight hundreds in the format than Gurbaz’s 46.
The innings also went some way to correcting an oddity in Gurbaz’s record: his preference for batting first, the most extreme in cricket history. Even after his dismissal for 101, he averages 54 in the first innings of games and just 20.95 in the second. Only one of his other seven centuries and one of his six half-centuries have come batting second.
Most ODI hundreds before turning 23, full list
| Player | Team | Hundreds before turning 23 |
| Quinton de Kock | South Africa | 8 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 8 |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | Afghanistan | 8 |
| Virat Kohli | India | 7 |
| Babar Azam | Pakistan | 6 |
| Upul Tharanga | Sri Lanka | 6 |
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