By AFP
Dubai: In a heart-stopping encounter, Afghanistan kept their Champions Trophy semi-final hopes alive with an eight-run victory over England, knocking them out of the tournament. With a scintillating century from Joe Root and a historic knock from Ibrahim Zadran, the match swung in every direction, but it was Azmatullah Omarzai’s match-winning five-wicket haul that ultimately sealed England’s fate and handed Afghanistan a momentous win.
Zadran’s record-breaking knock
Earlier, Afghanistan opener Ibrahim Zadran made history with a sensational 177 off 146 balls — the highest individual score in ICC Champions Trophy history, surpassing Ben Duckett’s 165. His record-breaking knock powered Afghanistan to a formidable 325/7 in their Group B clash.
Zadran, 23, tore through England’s bowling attack, surpassing his previous ODI best of 162. “It’s a special knock,” Zadran told the official broadcasters after winning the Player of the Match award. His 146-ball knock was laced with 12 fours and six sixes. He not only broke his own record for Afghanistan’s highest individual ODI score but also set a new tournament record, days after Duckett’s 165 in England’s opening loss to Australia.
“I think it was one of the best ODI innings I have ever seen,” said skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi. “He’s absolutely brilliant, a talented guy. The beauty of our team is we have talented youngsters and at the same time we have senior guys, who are at the top level. Everyone knows their roles in this team.”
Afghanistan overcome early setback
Afghanistan elected to bat in a bid to bounce back from their opening loss to South Africa but soon slipped to 37-3 inside nine overs. All-rounder Jofra Archer surpassed the 50-ODI wicket mark in just 30 matches, overtaking James Anderson, who achieved the feat in 31 games.
Zadran steadied the innings with a fourth-wicket partnership of 103 alongside skipper Shahidi, who contributed 40. He later added 111 runs for the sixth wicket with Mohammad Nabi, who smashed a quick-fire 40 off 24 balls.
Root’s century in vain
In reply, England lost two early wickets, slipping to 30-2, after senior spinner Mohammad Nabi struck with his first ball to send back Jamie Smith for nine.
Root kept calm and, along with skipper Jos Buttler, who took time to settle before hitting two sixes, put on an 83-run stand to keep England in the chase. However, England lost regular wickets and suffered their second consecutive ODI defeat to Afghanistan, following their shock loss in the 2023 World Cup in India.
England’s Joe Root (right) plays a reverse sweep during his century against Afghanistan at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday.
England’s Joe Root (right) plays a reverse sweep during his century against Afghanistan at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday.
AFP
“Root played an unbelievable innings tonight. The way he handled pressure in a run-chase,” said Buttler. “He needed one of the other top six batters to stay in with him and take the game deeper.”
Omarzai’s heroics seal Afghanistan’s victory
The match remained in the balance as Omarzai dismissed Overton, but despite Jofra Archer’s late push, England became the third team to be eliminated from the eight-nation tournament, following hosts Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Needing 13 off the final over with one wicket in hand, pace bowler Omarzai kept his nerve, conceding just four runs and dismissing Adil Rashid to seal Afghanistan’s famous win.
Afghanistan eye revenge against Australia
Afghanistan now turn their attention to their next clash against Australia on Friday. Glenn Maxwell’s double-century had pulled the Aussies out of trouble during their title-winning campaign in the World Cup two years ago.
“Hopefully, we take this momentum with us for the next game against Australia,” said Shahidi.
