Azmatullah Omarzai, on Thursday (June 20), hit one of the biggest sixes of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024 during the Super 8 game against India at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.
Afghanistan, who were chasing 182 to begin their Super 8 campaign with a win, got off to a poor start. Their in-form opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz tried to attack every ball and paid the price with a deflected delivery behind the stumps. He departed for 11 runs in the second over.
Hazratullah Zazai (2) and Ibrahim Zadran (8) could not even reach the double-digit mark as Afghanistan were reeling at 23 for 3 in the powerplay. Gulbadin Naib and Azmatullah Omarzai stopped the rot with a 44-run stand before departing in quick succession.
Azmatullah Omarzai departed after scoring 26 runs off 20 balls. And though the Afghan all-rounder couldn’t get his team out of trouble, he managed to make his presence felt by hitting Ravindra Jadeja for a huge six. The right-handed batsman welcomed the Indian all-rounder into the attack by hitting his first ball for a six that traveled up to 100 meters long.
Watch Azmatullah Omarzai’s six:
– Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (@Hanji_CricDekho) June 20, 2024
Talking about the game, India is in control. At the time of writing, Afghanistan were reeling at 120 for 7 in the 18th over while chasing 182. They still need 60+ runs in less than 3 overs to cause an upset.
Early in the game, India took advantage of Suryakumar Yadav’s fifty to recover from a poor start and post a competitive total of 181 for 8 after Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first. India were reeling at 62 for 3 at one point before Suryakumar’s fifty rescued the innings.
The right-handed batsman scored 53 runs off 28 balls with the help of five fours and three sixes. Hardik Pandya also played a crucial role with 32 runs. After the match against Afghanistan, India will face Bangladesh and Australia in their next Super 8 matches.