LAHORE (Kashmir English): England were knocked out of the Champions Trophy after they suffered an eight-run defeat against Afghanistan in a Group B match at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.
Chasing 326 to win, Joe Root struck a superb 120 off 111 balls as, despite wickets tumbling at regular intervals, England flirted on numerous occasions with a victory that would keep their tournament alive.
But Root, cramping up late in the innings, fell in the 46th over, while neither Jamie Overton (32 off 28) nor Jofra Archer (14 off 8) could see the side over the line – no boundary scored in the final 15 deliveries as England were bowled out for 317.
Despite having won the toss, Afghanistan struggled with the bat early on, with Archer claiming his 50th ODI wicket when bowling Rahmanullah Gurbaz (6) off an inside edge, before adding Sediqullah Atal (4) and Rahmat Shah (4) in an impressive opening spell.
Ibrahim’s magnificent 177 off 146 balls rescued his side from 37-3 after a devastating opening burst by Jofra Archer (3-64), with a banged-up England bowling attack, just as in their opening defeat against Australia, struggling to make the most of those early inroads and contain Afghanistan as the innings progressed.
Afghanistan breezed beyond 300, Ibrahim breaking Ben Duckett’s prior Champions Trophy record score of 165 in the process, set against Australia only four days prior, and England – winless in their last five ODIs and with only one victory in eight – suddenly looked right up against it.
England got off to a shaky start to the pursuit as they lost two wickets for just 30 runs in 6.1 overs. Phil Salt’s stay was again all too brief, clean-bowled for 12 by Azmatullah, while Jamie Smith (9) was too eager to take the aggressive option, perishing to Nabi’s first ball when skewing a thick edge to backward point.
Coming out to bat at number four, Root joined Ben Duckett in the middle and launched recovery. The duo shared an anchoring 68-run partnership until Rashid Khan got rid of the in-form batter on 38.
Root was involved in a brief 35-run partnership with Harry Brook (25) before finding ample support from the other end in the form of the England captain.
Later, the experienced pair of Root and Buttler added crucial 83 runs for the fifth wicket and pushed England’s total past the 200-run mark.
Azmatullah Omarzai broke the budding partnership in the 37th over by dismissing Buttler, who scored 38 off 42 deliveries, laced with two sixes.
England then suffered another blow to their pursuit as Liam Livingstone walked back after making a modest contribution.
Root then joined forces with Jamie Overton for an important 57-run partnership for the seventh wicket until Omarzai got him caught behind in the 46th over with England needing a further 39 runs.
Joe Root remained the top-scorer for England with 120 off 111 balls with the help of a dozen boundaries, including a six.
Playing XIs
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
England: Philip Salt, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith(w), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(c), Liam Livingstone, Jofra Archer, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
