Balance and position key to Gurbaz's blitzkrieg in Chattogram

Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz is reaping the benefits of balance and getting into positions early at the crease. The dashing opener scored a scintillating hundred to help the visitors earn a maiden ODI series win over Bangladesh by winning the second ODI by 142 runs.

Afghanistan openers Gurbaz (145) and Ibrahim Zadran (100) set up the victory for their side with a massive partnership of 256 runs after being sent into bat and laid the foundation for a massive total of 331 runs on the board. Gurbaz smashed Bangladeshi bowlers to all parts of the ground and struck 13 fours and eight sixes.

"During the last two days I was just working on my balance and position and I think if I am in good position then scoring is not difficult for me. I focused hard to work on these things.

"I give credit to coach and captain as they supported me in tough situations and every time I didn't score they told me that I can do it."

Afghanistan head coach Jonathon Trott looked relieved with Gurbaz coming up with a timely ton. "I think it was about Gurbaz being as still as possible at release," said Trott. "Sometimes he is moving. Sometimes a player as talented as Gurbaz can get wrapped up in technique instead of just watching the ball. So it was just making the game as simple as possible with the hand-eye coordination that Gurbaz has. Just being simple in the mind technically as well.

"He can score everywhere around the ground. He sometimes rushes it and thinks that every game is a T20. The longer Gurbaz bats for us, the more chance we have of winning."

Trott said he was happy with the way Afghanistan batted till the 35th over before th hosts make a huge comeback to restrict them under 350.

"We were going to bat first if we won the toss, having looked at the weather. There was no rain. There wasn't as much grass as the previous match. I think the way that Gurbaz played in his natural attacking style, while Ibrahim was a nice foil at the other side. Gurbaz didn't have to worry about another new batsman at the other end. It was a good sort of dove-tailing if you like. I was happy with the first 35 overs.

"I think because the batters were sitting and watching how easy they (Zadran and Gurbaz) made it look, I don't think it was easy. I think it was the type of wicket where starting as a new batter was difficult. We saw the way Mushfiqur played. You can rotate but you need two batters doing it at the same time. The new batter has to get going better. I think we maybe looked too far ahead, instead of getting another partnership building."

Trott said that they will not be getting carried away by earning their maiden ODI series win over the hosts as they need to keep their winning momentum leading up to the Asia Cup and the World Cup.

"We needed to be at the top of our game to come here and compete. It is important that we focus on the next game as well. Don't get too wound up or hyped up. We can't rest on our laurels if we want to improve as a side looking ahead to the Asia Cup and World Cup. When you go to competitions and Cups, you need to keep winning," he concluded.