Watch: Mujeeb Ur Rahman scored an incredible, record-breaking half-century in the third ODI against Pakistan yesterday (August 26), and it came to an incredible end as well as he became the first Afghanistan batter to be out hit wicket in international cricket.
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Mujeeb took the cricket world by storm in the third ODI against Pakistan, not with the ball but with the bat in hand. Having previously registered a top score of 27 from more than 300 professional games of cricket, Mujeeb scored an outrageous 64 off 37 balls coming in to bat at No.9.
Afghanistan were chasing 269 and were dead and buried at 97-7 when Rashid Khan got out. Mujeeb then walked in and nonchalantly smashed almost everyone around, completing his fifty in 26 balls, the fastest ever by an Afghanistan batter in ODIs. His record-breaking spree, however, didn’t just last while he was hitting those fours and sixes. It carried over to his dismissal as well.
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Looking to fend a Shaheen Afridi back-of-length ball off his hips for a single on the last ball of the 46th over, Mujeeb ended up going too far back in his crease and stepped onto his stumps, getting dismissed hit wicket in the process.
Afghanistan have played 272 international games and yet, Mujeeb’s dismissal was the very first time that an Afghan batter was out hit wicket in international cricket, across formats.
With his wicket, Afghanistan’s hopes came crashing down as well, and they were bowled out three overs later for 209, handing Pakistan a 59-run victory and a 3-0 clean sweep of the series. The victory also took Pakistan to No.1 in the ICC ODI team rankings.
However, it is Mujeeb’s innings, along with his dismissal, that the match will mostly be remembered for.
