ODI WORLD CUP | Afghanistan stuns defending champs England with 69-run victory

New Delhi: After a lot of one-sided matches, the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup was craving for an upset win and Afghanistan delivered the same with a 69-run victory over defending champions England at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Sunday.

With a healthy amount of support for them in the crowd of 26, 440, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ikram Alikhil slammed half-centuries in carrying Afghanistan to 284 in 49.5 overs. In defence, Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman took three wickets each in an impressive bowling performance to bowl out England for 215 in 40.5 overs.

With this, Afghanistan end their 14-match losing streak in World Cups with the biggest win of their ODI history till date, to send shockwaves in the tournament as well as in the cricketing world. Afghanistan are now at sixth place in points table, just behind England, while Australia are now at bottom of the ten-team tally.

Chasing 285, England was dealt an early blow when Jonny Bairstow was trapped lbw on the first ball of Fazalhaq Farooqui, which he reviewed immediately. The replay showed the ball clipping leg-stump on umpire’s call, meaning England retained review, but lost Bairstow.

Though Dawid Malan and Joe Root picked some boundaries, Farooqui continued to bowl probing line and length – like he squared up Malan, hit him on pads (and burnt a review), then beating him. Afghanistan increased pressure on England when Mujeeb Ur Rahman castled Root with a googly that stayed low.

Malan and Harry Brook tried stabilising the chase with strike-rotation and a few boundaries, but Mohammad Nabi took out the former by deceiving him with an outside off-stump delivery which he chipped straight to short extra cover. Naveen-ul-Haq produced a peach of a delivery – fuller ball coming in from wide outside the off-stump – to castle Jos Buttler through the gate. Rashid Khan entered the wicket-takers list by trapping Liam Livingstone plumb lbw with a straighter delivery. Livingstone tried to overturn it, but it went in vain.

With Brook at the crease and striking boundaries whenever deliveries either wide or overpitched were given to reach his fifty in 35 balls, England held their hopes high. But with boundaries drying up, Nabi struck by using dip, turn and bounce to draw Sam Curran forward and get him edge to slip.

Chris Woakes survived an lbw appeal against Mujeeb, but the spinner finally got his man when he got the googly to go past the inside edge and crashed into the off-stump. Mujeeb struck the killer blow by having Brook nick behind a quicker carrom ball to Ikram Alikhil. Rashid had Adil Rashid caught at slip, and despite Reece Topley delaying the inevitable, the leg-spinner castled Mark Wood to send the crowd into a jubilant frenzy. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ikram Alikhil slammed half-centuries in carrying Afghanistan to 284 in 49.5 overs against England in match 13 of the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Sunday.

Afghanistan were cruising on a flat pitch at 111-0 in 16 overs, with Gurbaz being unstoppable in his knock of 80 off 53 balls, capitalising on loose balls from England’s fast bowlers. But Adil Rashid led a vicious spin web to trigger an Afghanistan collapse, taking his best-ever World Cup figures of 3-42.

From 190-6, Alikhil made 58 off 66 balls and was supported by cameos from Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman for Afghanistan to finish with a competitive total. Pushed into batting first, Gurbaz began his scintillating show by pulling a wayward Chris Woakes over mid-wicket for six, followed by Ibrahim Zadran cutting him for four past a sloppy Jonny Bairstow.

Gurbaz cashed on struggles of Woakes over a flat pitch by driving and slicing off him for back-to-back boundaries, followed by him and Zadran taking a four each off Reece Topley. Post Afghanistan reaching its fifty in just 43 balls, there was just no respite for England’s bowlers.