Aaron Finch congratulates Hazratullah Zazai for his stunning century against Ireland

The second T20I between Afghanistan and Ireland in Dehradun on Saturday (February 23) will be always remembered for Hazratullah Zazai’s breathtaking batting display. It was one of those special nights for Hazratullah where everything he touched was turning into gold and he fully capitalised on it, blowing away Ireland with a whirlwind ton. The left-handed batsman slammed an unbeaten 162 to enter the record books.

Hazratullah smoked 11 fours and 16 sixes in his innings as Afghanistan piled up a record 278 for 3.  The southpaw’s score is now the second-highest individual innings in T20Is. He fell ten short of Aaron Finch‘s record of 172 against  Zimbabwe in Harare last year. In doing so, Zazai became only the second player to score over 150 in T20Is.

The 16 sixes hit by Hazratullah during his innings is also the most by a batsman in a T20I innings. He went past Finch’s tally of 14 hits over the boundary, during his knock of 156 against England.

The Afghanistan star, who had hit six sixes in an over during the inaugural season of Afghanistan Premier League, has been receiving widespread praise for his majestic knock. Well, Finch joined the bandwagon too as he took to Twitter to congratulate the Afghanistan opener, writing, “Congratulations @zazai_3! Amazing innings!!”

Afghanistan crush Ireland

Riding on Hazratullah Zazai’s record-breaking century, Afghanistan thrashed Ireland by 84 runs in the second T20I to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Batting first, Afghanistan piled up 278 for 3, the highest total in T20Is. Hazratullah and Usman Ghani shared a record 236-run stand for the first wicket to fire their side to a huge total. Afghanistan’s innings was studded with 22 sixes which is the most by a team in a T20I innings.

In reply, Ireland came up with a valiant fightback but the target was just too much as they ran out of steam towards the end. Skipper Paul Stirling, who slammed 91, shared 126 runs with Kevin O Brien for the first wicket before Afghanistan took 5 wickets for just 24 runs. The flurry of wickets all but sealed Ireland’s fate as Afghanistan restricted them to 194 for 6.

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