Afghanistan recorded a historic first win over England in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, beating the defending champions by 69 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
Jos Buttler’s men squared off against the Afghan Atlans on Sunday, October 15, but the English suffered a collapse of epic proportions, as they got all out for 215, while chasing 285.
Earlier, Afghanistan had recorded their second-highest total in the history of ODI World Cups, riding on the fifties from Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ikram Alikhil. Adil Rashid picked up three wickets giving away just 42 runs but the Afghans fought their way to a valiant total of 284 having been invited to bat first by Buttler.
England were expected to cruise through, but they made melee of the chase, Harry Brook was the highest run-scorer for his side at 66 but got no support whatsoever from the rest of the batters.
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Mujeeb ur Rahman picked up three wickets, giving away 51 runs while Mohammad Nabi snared two wickets conceding a paltry 16 in his six overs.
England had suffered many renowned upsets in the history of ODI World Cups from losing to Zimbabwe in 1992 to falling to defeats against Ireland and Bangladesh in 2011, followed by the losses to Bangladesh again in 2015.
Afghanistan was dismissed for 284 with one ball of its innings remaining in Delhi, but bowled out England for 215 with 9.3 overs left. Only Harry Brook offered serious resistance with a 61-ball 66 at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
The ninth-ranked Afghans celebrated only their second-ever win at the World Cup, the other coming against Scotland in 2015 in their first appearance.
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England has lost two of its opening three group games, having been thrashed by New Zealand in the tournament opener.
It was Afghanistan’s first-ever ODI win against England.
Off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman spun his side to victory with a stunning return of 3-51 in 10 overs. He had also scored a quick-fire 28 off 16 balls in an impressive all-round display.
Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz had smacked the English bowling for 80 off 57 balls with eight fours and four sixes before being run out, after England chose to bowl first. Wrist spinner Adil Rashid took 3-42 as Afghanistan’s 284 runs seemed like an under-par total on the tournament’s best batting track.
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England’s campaign is now on the brink with tough games ahead including South Africa, India and Pakistan.
With agency inputs
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