After losing their third toss in the World Cup against England, Afghanistan has fallen into a batting disaster after a flying start. After breaking the opening pair for 114 runs, the Afghans lost 4 wickets for 152 runs.
Two openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran attacked the English bowlers today. Afghanistan crossed the team’s century in just 12 overs thanks to this pair.
Chris Woakes, Rich Topley and Sam Curran, Adil Rashid and Mark Wood could not break this pair despite a thousand attempts. In the meantime, Rahmanullah Gurbaz picked up a personal half-century. He scored 50 runs off just 33 balls. Which includes seven fours and two sixes.
Finally Adil Rashid broke this pair with 114 runs for the team. He returned Ibrahim Zadran who scored 28 runs off 48 balls. Afghanistan’s opening pair broke for 114 runs after Jadran’s departure.
After the departure of Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah returned to become Adil Rashid’s second victim for the team’s 122 runs. He returned with 3 runs off 8 balls.
Gurbaz also returned the ball after Rahmat returned. After being run out, he returned with 80 runs off 57 balls. He could not fulfill the hope of a century.
Azmatullah Omarzai returned to Liam Livingstone after Gurbaz’s departure. He returned with 19 runs off 24 balls. On his departure, Afghans lost 4 wickets for 152 runs.
The champion team England has won one of the two matches of the World Cup so far. Jos Buttler’s team did not perform well against New Zealand in the first match. The Three Lions surrendered against the Kiwis by 9 wickets. But made a good comeback against Bangladesh. This time, the British have entered the field against Afghanistan with the goal of two consecutive victories.
On the other hand, a tough test awaits the Afghans, who have not seen a victory so far in the World Cup. Whether Hashmatullah Shahidi’s team will be able to turn around against superpowers like England, it is a matter of time.
England XI: Jonny Bairstow, David Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (captain and wicketkeeper), Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid and Rich Topley.
Afghanistan XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wicketkeeper), Rashid Khan, Mujeeb-ur-Rehman, Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazlhaq Farooqui.
(October 15/NBW)