England vs Afghanistan, ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Eoin Morgan smashes record for most sixes; sets Twitter on fire

Eoin Morgan was forced to leave the field against West Indies in England’s last game with a back spasm but his blitzkrieg with the bat on Tuesday would have given the Afghanistan’s bowlers a similar problem. Morgan who came out to bat with England at 164/2 in 29.5 overs after the fall of Jonny Bairstow, took Afghanistan’s bowlers to the cleaners with this brutal counter-attack. The Ireland-born England captain produced the fastest hundred of the ongoing World Cup with an innings that witnessed sixes being hit at a will as he broke the record for most maximums hit during an ODI innings. The record was earlier jointly held by three stalwarts of the game: Rohit Sharma, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle, each of whom slammed 16 sixes during their respective innings. But Morgan now stands over them with 17 sixes, eventually getting dismissed for 148 off 71 deliveries. Morgan who had come out to bat after Joe Root, left his partner way behind racing to the three-figure mark by getting there in just 57 balls. Morgan’s century is now the fourth fastest in World Cup history. The record for the fastest World Cup ton belongs to Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien, who brought it up in just 50 deliveries in the 2011 edition. The blistering innings also enabled England to put up 397/6 in 50 overs — the highest score so far in this World Cup while Rashid Khan finished with match figures of 110/0 in nine overs, the worst in, again, the World Cup history. His fiery innings at the Old Trafford in Manchester also put the Twitter abuzz with astonishment and praise:

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