Najibullah Zadran and Ibrahim Zadran: The two Afghani batters put together a match-winning partnership tonight.
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The Zadrans, consisting of Ibrahim and Najibullah, put together a match-winning 33-ball 69-run fourth-wicket partnership to power Afghanistan to a thumping 7-wicket victory against Bangladesh tonight.
Chasing a 128-run target on a tricky Sharjah Cricket Stadium pitch, Afghanistan needed 66 runs in seven overs to win the match when captain Mohammad Nabi (8) failed to justify his batting promotion.
Despite Ibrahim hitting Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed for consecutive boundaries in the 15th over, Afghanistan still needed 52 runs in the last five overs. Najibullah, who had scored just three runs off his first six deliveries, hit three sixes off the next five balls to bring down the equation to needing 26 runs in three overs.
Ibrahim’s boundary and Najibullah’s four and two back-to-back sixes off Mohammad Saifuddin put Afghanistan in a commanding position before Najibullah hit another six to seal the chase in the penultimate over.
While Ibrahim scored 42* (41) with the help of four fours, Najibullah turned the tables with his 43* (17) coming at a strike rate of 252.94 and comprising of a four and six sixes.
Having already defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets on Saturday, Afghanistan have become the first team to qualify for Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 round. The development means that Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be playing a virtual knockout for the second Group B spot on Thursday.
Are Najibullah Zadran and Ibrahim Zadran related?
Fans perceiving Ibrahim and Najibullah to be brothers is understandable because of both the cricketers sharing the same surname but it is noteworthy that the two are not related to each other.
Ibrahim, 20, was born in Khost. Najibullah, 29, on the other hand, was born in Logar. While Ibrahim has represented Afghanistan in all three formats in his three-year career, Najibullah has played 159 white-ball matches for Afghanistan in his decade-long career.
