At Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Afghanistan defeated England in a thrilling match in Match No. 8 of the Champions Trophy 2025. Afghanistan eliminated England from the tournament with just an eight-run victory. With a decisive victory in the game that mattered most, the team captained by Hashmat Shahidi was ecstatic and maintained their hopes of qualifying.
Shahidi won the toss and England was instructed to bowl first on a batting deck. Early inroads were made by the English team, who started the game quickly. Although Afghanistan managed to post 325 for 7 in 50 overs, Ibrahim Zadran was the star of the show thanks to his incredible talent. He rose to the occasion and contributed with a score of 177 before being removed in the last over of the innings.
Talking Points
Afghanistan is driven home by Zadran.
After taking the first three wickets for just 37 runs, England was unable to seize the opportunities due to Zadran’s superb stroke-making skills. He and the Afghan captain formed a vital alliance that helped the team escape a difficult situation. Zadran remained till the very end to finish with 177 off just 146 deliveries, including 12 fours and six sixes, but Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai later contributed with quick forties as well. In the history of the Champions Trophy, this also became the highest individual score.
Omarzai, an all-around player, has nerves
Although Omarzai and Zadran formed an important combination, his best performance was in the second innings when he had the ball in hand. The seam bowler claimed five wickets, including Adil Rashid, Jamie Overton, Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, and Joe Root. Notably, Omarzai had to defend 13 runs off the final over in a contest that had gone to the wire, and Rashid’s wicket came on the penultimate delivery of the game.
Who Said What?
Hashmatullah Shahidi | Afghanistan Captain, said
As a team we are happy. Our nation will be happy with this win. Moving on to the next game. We beat them first time in 2023. We are improving day by day. Today was a tensed game. We controlled it well. I am happy with the result. Zadran is a talented guy. We were three down at the beginning. The partnership between me and him was crucial. One of the best ODI knocks that I have seen. Azmat played a good knock. Played with positive intent. He bowled crucial overs as well.
Jos Buttler | England Captain, said
Very disappointing. We had chances in game. Gutted to be on the wrong side. Root played an unbelievable knock. He needed one of the top 6 player to take it deeper. It got away from us in the last 10 overs of the bowling innings. They got away from us. Credit to Zadran. He played a fantastic knock as well. It was a very good score on that pitch. Wood felt his knee in his fourth over.
He felt pain to bowl anymore. He showed courage to come back and bowl. Livingstone went off with his ankle issue. We tried to break the partnerships keeping the resources in mind. Root has been a brilliant performer in all formats. His ODI record is fantastic. If one of us in top 6 would have hung in, we would have been over the line. It is disappointing when you don’t perform.
Ibrahim Zadran | Player of the Match:
I was expecting that, I wanted to grab one good catch for the team. Whenever I grabbed it (the winning catch), that feeling was great. It means a lot to me, as much as you work hard, I was having trust on myself and I wanted to keep on batting. That 177 is a special moment for me. We have played here last time in Asia Cup, so I had the idea. I wanted to take time and play proper cricketing shots and that worked for me so I’m happy. When you win a game, it gives you a lot of energy and it gives you confidence. We will try to play even better play in the next game. We will be playing against Australia so we will try to do as less mistakes as possible. We will have a plan and do our best.
India
