(Cricket news) Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit his second ODI century as Afghanistan beat Netherlands in the 2nd ODI for a series victory. Netherlands were in a delicate situation as they had to win the match and now will be hoping to end the series in a victory as the final match will be played on 26th January.

Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat first as Netherlands again had an economical bowling performance. Fred Klaassen bowled an inswing yorker that made the leg stump go for a walk as Usman Ghani was dismissed for a golden duck. Gurbaz and Rahmat Shah stood up to the Netherlands bowlers but took their own time in taking risks. Rahmat was done by a Philippe Boissevain that spun away and keeper Scott Edwards took the bails in a fraction of a second as the 83 run partnership came to an end.

Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and Gurbaz added 106 runs for the third wicket. Gurbaz got to his century in the 40th over while running a quick double as the 20 year old got plenty of support from his teammates. From the 30th over to the 40th there were no boundaries as it was full cardio for the captain and the 20 year old. In the 41st over, Gurbaz went for a swing which broke the partnership and in the next three overs the captain too had an attempt at clearing the ball which also ended in an untimely dismissal. The team put up 238 for Netherlands to chase, which is 10 runs more than last time.

Netherlands were having a good start as Edwards continued his form from the 1st match and was getting along well with Musa Ahmed. Mujeeb Ur Rahman split the pair in the 4th over as he dismissed Musa and Colin Ackermann could only face 12 balls until he was caught off Fareed Ahmad. In a test against time, Bas de Leede made his presence felt as he put up a 90 run partnership with Edwards and the score was 125-2 with the team still having a chance to level the series. Leede finally could not resist giving a try with the bat as he edged the ball to the stumps as it was only Edwards who could bring the team closer to a win.

Yamin Ahmadzai got his first wicket in the 39th over of the match and it was the most crucial wicket as Edwards got out for 86 which was his career highest score. It was the end of the match for the Netherlands team as they could only add 40 more runs after the wicketkeeper’s dismissal. Mujeeb Ur Rahman was the pick up of the bowlers with 4 wickets in 9.4 overs and only gave away 32 runs. Fareed Ahmad Malik was the most economical in the match as he gave away 29 runs in 10 overs with a maiden and two wickets.

Afghanistan: 237/6 in 50 overs

Netherlands: 189/10 in 47.4 overs

Player of the match: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, (103 off 127 balls, 6×3, 4×6).

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