England has a dubious record after being defeated by Afghanistan by 69 runs in a World Cup group match at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday. England has become the first side in ICC ODI World Cup history to lose against all 11 Test-playing nations. Chasing 285, England’s batters struggled to adapt to the conditions well and score runs freely. Harry Brook was the only batter who read the Afghan bowler’s line and length well and scored runs with ease. Brook top-scored with a fine knock of 66 while other batters departed cheaply. Afghan spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan starred for their side, picking up three wickets each.
England captain Jos Butler’s decision to bat first did not work well for his side as Afghanistan got off to a flying start with Rahmanullah Gurbaz playing attacking shots right from the word go. Gurbaz’s partner Ibrahim Zadran did not get much strikes to bat but was happy to play the second fiddle. Both added 114 runs in 16.4 overs for the opening wicket. Joe Root took a brilliant catch to make a crucial breakthrough, dismissing Zadran (28).
England then produced a double blow in the 19th over to bounce back into the game. Butler did an excellent job behind the stumps to dismiss Rahmat Shah (3). And then a misunderstanding in running between the wickets gave Afghanistan a big blow as Gurbaz was short of his crease and walked back after playing a blistering knock of 57-ball 80. Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai chipped in 14 and 19 respectively.
Ikram Alikhil kept the scoreboard ticking by playing a fine knock of 58. Rahman and Rashid played a handy knock of 23 and 28 respectively, helping their side to reach a defendable total of 284 in 49.5 overs. For England, Adil Rashid picked up three wickets while Mark Wood bagged two.
In reply, Afghan pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi gave his side a dream start by dismissing hard-hitting Johny Bairstow (2) in the very second over. Rahman then bowled out the in-form Joe Root for just 11 to put England on the back foot. Dawid Malan and Brook looked to rebuild the England innings but Mohammad Nabi had other ideas and removed Malan for 32. England batters failed to read the game well and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Although tail-enders scored some crucial runs it was not enough to take England home, eventually, Afghanistan bowled out England for 215 and registered a memorable win.
