Afghanistan (AFG) achieved a flawless victory on Wednesday, February 26, thwarting England’s hopes of earning a Champions Trophy 2025 berth despite a 326-run target.
The 2019 World Cup winners lost badly because they were losing wickets at regular intervals and were unable to maintain the target.
This ultimately resulted in their elimination from the Champions Trophy. Notably, England held back despite Joe Root’s outstanding 120 off 111 balls, as no other batter was able to surpass the 40-run margin. The only significant contributors were Jamie Overton (32), Jos Buttler (38), and Ben Duckett (38). In the end, Afghanistan achieved a historic triumph when England was bowled out.
Leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who has a stellar record of ten first-class hundreds, was under tremendous pressure to lead the team to an unexpected victory in the final two overs as England’s bottom order was left with too much to do. He was only able to score five runs off of seven balls, though. Similar to this, former cricket greats Wasim Akram and Sunil Gavaskar shared a humorous anecdote regarding Rashid’s first-class batting abilities.
“The stats man never stops telling me that Adil Rashid has ten first-class hundreds whenever I enter the commentary box. I apologize, Adil, but you didn’t look like a man with tens of thousands of dollars tonight,” Akram said on the Sports Central program.
How can he reach a hundred if he is batting at number nine? He ought to be batting first. In response to Akram’s comments, Gavaskar added, “Someone should tell England’s management—he has 10 centuries, he should be their opener!”
Afghanistan achieved a daunting total thanks to Zadran’s historic knock.
Speaking of the game itself, Afghanistan overcame a poor start to compile a formidable 325 runs, thanks to Ibrahim Zadran’s historic 177 off 146 balls. The Afghan batter ultimately broke Ben Duckett’s mark and achieved the greatest individual score in Champions Trophy history. Azmatullah Omarzai was a crucial all-round player who destroyed England with a spectacular five-wicket haul after hitting an incredible 41 off 31 balls.
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