In their third match in the World Cup, England fell into a batting disaster when they came down to bat against the target of 285 runs given by Afghanistan. England lost 5 wickets for only 117 runs by the bowling balls of Afghan bowlers.
Jonny Bairstow and David Malan opened for England today. Jonny Bairstow went back after being LBW by Fazal Haq Farooqui just one over into the game. He scored 2 runs in 4 balls. Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal broke the English opening pair by just three runs.
After the departure of Jonny Bairstow, David Malan formed a partnership with Joe Root. But when Joe Root returned to the pavilion for 33 runs by Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, this pair was broken by 30 runs. He scored 11 runs off 17 balls.
David Malan paired with Harry Brook after Joe Root’s departure. The pair broke up when David Malan returned to the courtroom at the behest of Mehmed Nabi. David Malan returned to 32 off 39 balls.
Harry Brook paired with Jos Buttler after David Malan’s departure. But even this pair could not go far. Jos Buttler’s dismissal for 91 runs broke the pair for 23 runs. He returned with 9 runs off 18 balls.
After the departure of Jos Buttler, Harry Brook tried to pair with Liam Livingstone. But this pair did not last long. Liam Livingstone got 10 runs off 14 balls after being lbw by Rashid Khan. As a result, the English lost 5 wickets for only 117 runs.
Earlier, Afghanistan went into bat after losing the toss against England. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ikram Alikhil’s pair of half-centuries scored 284 runs in 49 overs with 5 balls. Now England is batting with a target of 285 runs.
(October 15/NBW/EH)