Mohammad Shahzad becomes 1st player ever to score 50s in two different International matches on same day

Shahzad also went past several prominent names in all-time scoring charts of T20Is.

New Delhi: Afghanistan emerged champions of the inaugural Desert T20 tournament which included associate teams - Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Oman, Hong Kong and Namibia – following some emphatic performances by star batsman Mohammad Shahzad.

Here are some of the reasons for which Shahzad entered history books.

This was Shahzad’s 12th T20I fifty score, as he stands joint 5th in the standings behind Virat Kohli (16), Chris Gayle (15), Brendon McCullum (15) and Tilakratne Dilshan (14).

Shahzad went past several prominent names in all-time scoring charts of T20Is. He outscored Shoaib Malik (1,548), Mohammad Hafeez (1,614), and JP Duminy (1,654), and is presently just one run behind Virat Kohli (1,657).

Led by former New Zealand great, Brendon McCullum (2,140), Shahzad is further trailing Tillakaratne Dilshan (1,806), Martin Guptill (1,806), Umar Akmal (1,690), and David Warner (1,686).

In Afghanistan's road to trophy, Shahzad also became the first cricketer to score fifties in two separate International matches on the same day – a spectacular feat that completely went unnoticed.

With eight consecutive wins to their name in T20Is, Afghanistan are joint leaders along with England (from 2010-2011) and Ireland (in 2012).