Afghanistan recorded one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history as they defeated England by 69 runs in the ongoing World Cup at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Sunday. Not even once did they give a chance to the English team to make a comeback as they aced it all, be it batting or bowling. England were restricted to just 215 runs in 40.3 overs in reply to Afghanistan’s 284 runs.
Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman got three-wicket hauls while Mohammad Nabi scalped two wickets. Harry Brook was the lone warrior for England as he made 66 runs before getting out in the 35th over, with his side reeling at 169/8.
Earlier, after being invited to bat first, Afghanistan went on to post a fighting total of 284 runs on the board in Delhi on Saturday. Both the Afghan openers gave a solid start with Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran adding 114 in 16.1 overs for the first wicket. It was Adil Rashid who broke their crucial stand as Zadran departed after scoring 28 runs. Gurbaz continued to torment the English bowlers as he got out after making 80 runs in just 57 balls.
Afghanistan then lost three wickets and were reeling at 122/3 in 18.5 overs. But then Ikram Alikhil took control and went on to make 58 runs before getting out to Reece Topley, while Mujeeb Ur Rahman smashed 28 in 16 balls, helping their team post a good total of 284 runs.
For England, Liam Livingstone took one scalp but was the most economical among the England bowlers while Adil Rashid picked up three wickets. Pacer Mark Wood also bowled well, taking two wickets while Joe Root and Reece Topley returned with one scalp each.
In reply, the English team suffered an early blow in the form of Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root cheaply. Bairstow was snared by Fazalhaq Farooqi for 2, while Mujeeb Ur Rahman cleaned up Joe Root for 11(17). No English batters could decode the Afghan’s spin web apart from Harry Brook who ended up scoring 66 runs but it was not enough to sail his team’s boat.