Afghanistan 284 (Gurbaz 80, Alikhil 58, Adil Rashid 3-42, Wood 2-50) beat England 215 (Brook 66, Malan 32, Rashid Khan 3-37, Mujeeb 3-51, Nabi 2-16) by 69 runs
Afghanistan claimed the most famous scalp of their international history, and in the process provided the first big shock of the 2023 World Cup, by routing England’s world champions by 69 runs in a spin-and-seam masterclass under the Delhi floodlights.
Their dominance was set in motion by a fearless display of power-hitting from the 21-year-old Rahmanullah Gurbaz, whose 80 from 57 had promised so much more until a run-out sawed him off in his prime. But Ikram Alikhil marshalled Afghanistan’s lower-order with a precious half-century in his first game of this year’s World Cup, whereupon they set about making a target of 285 seem as dim and distant as England’s hopes of defending their title must now feel.
Jos Buttler’s decision to bat second had seemingly been influenced by the likelihood that the ball would skid on to the bat under the floodlights. But instead, the evening conditions merely exacerbated the natural attributes of each of Afghanistan’s bowlers, not least Fazalhaq Farooqi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, right from the outset of their innings.
Not for the first time, Dawid Malan was the most composed batter on show, his 32 from 39 balls singlehandedly dragging England through the powerplay without further loss. But Mohammad Nabi, playing his 150th ODI out of a possible 156 for his country, was waiting for him as the fielding restrictions lifted. Nabi’s fourth ball was a moment of offspinning poetry – a flighted, dipping delivery that made Malan believe his fifth boundary was on the cards, only for Ibrahim Zadran to spring the trap at short cover.
At 68 for 3 in the 13th over, the alarm bells were ringing.
Buttler’s exhortation in recent weeks has been to “attack”… but even he was powerless to practice what he had preached in such invidious circumstances. His only shot in anger was a pointed one, a bullet drive through the covers as Afghanistan’s main threat Rashid Khan entered the attack in the 17th over. But Naveen-ul-Haq’s fiercely flicked seamers seemed to spook him from the outset, and after being beaten twice in his first four balls, he drove without conviction through a booming inswinger, and had his stumps splattered for 9 from 18.
England’s diffidence thereafter was startling. Liam Livingstone never looked settled in his 10 from 14, eventually planting his front foot down the line to Rashid and burning a futile review in the process. Sam Curran seemed focussed solely on holding up an end while Harry Brook got busy with a fighting half-century, including a handful of exquisite drives down the ground, and in the 31st over, England’s first and only six of the innings, which told a tale – especially when set against the previous World Cup meeting between these teams. Afghanistan by contrast had launched eight.
It was a crushing victory by any standards, but the gulf between Afghanistan’s attacking mindset and England’s muddled approach was even more vast than the final result made it out to be.
And it was Gurbaz’s mini-masterpiece that set the tone for his team. Presented with a surface on which South Africa’s batters had posted three centuries in last week’s World Cup record 428 for 5, he climbed on to the offensive, particularly against another timid new-ball spell from Chris Woakes, whose search for form has epitomised England’s uncertain start to their title defence.