Watch: Rahmanullah Gurbaz carved Sam Curran for three consecutive boundaries in the powerplay as Afghanistan piled on the runs early on in their World Cup fixture against England today (October 15).

Gurbaz hit a rapid half-century, his first in a World Cup, off just 33 balls in Delhi. He took advantage of some wayward bowling in the early stages of the match from Chris Woakes and Reece Topley, hitting four boundaries in the first six overs.

With England’s opening bowlers unable to stem the flow of runs, Jos Buttler turned to Sam Curran in the seventh over of the powerplay to try and make a breakthrough. However, Curran conceded a four from the first ball of his first over, and was even more expensive in his second.

He bowled a no ball from his second delivery in the ninth over, and the subsequent single off the free hit brought Gurbaz back on strike. The opener took full advantage of a length ball, sliding across him from Curran, and crunched it through the covers for four.

Curran tried to get his line straighter from the next ball, but ended up drifting slightly down the leg side, which Gurbaz was able to flick off his pads and down to the fine leg boundary for another four.

Curran banged in his next ball on a shorter length, but was punished again. Gurbaz rocked back and pulled the ball over midwicket with ease. The ball sailed over the fence and into the crowd to give Gurbaz his second six of the innings.

Watch: Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit three consecutive boundaries off Sam Curran below

 

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