Ibrahim Zadran scored a sensational 177 as Afghanistan posted a strong 325 in the must-win Champions Trophy 2025 clash against England at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Ibrahim Zadran, who recently returned from a lengthy spell on the sideline with injury, struck as many as 12 fours and half-a-dozen sixes in what is the highest individual score in Champions Trophy history. Ibrahim Zadran also surpassed his 162 against Sri Lanka to raise the bar for the highest individual ODI score by an Afghanistan batter.
Ibrahim Zadran starred with a hundred and Azmatullah Omarzai took a five-wicket haul as Afghanistan knocked England out of the Champions Trophy with an eight-run win on Wednesday at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The Afghans beat England by 69 runs in the ODI World Cup match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, and this time around, they showed their opponents the door to elimination.
Joe Root scored his 17th ODI hundred, but it wasn’t enough for England to win. Afghanistan made a comeback after their heavy 107-run defeat to Temba Bavuma’s South Africa. After qualifying for the semis in the Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA last year, they will be looking to book a semi-final berth in another ICC event.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : There is a bit of rain around today, with a 51 percent chance of rain. It is 67m to the off side and 70m to the leg side and 76m down the ground. The average score is more than 300 in the last 5 games. The wicket is hard. There is grass covering. The ball should come on to the bat nicely.
It looks very similar to the last game, we suspected Lahore to be the highest-scoring venue amongst all and we had more than 700 runs in the England vs Australia game and this looks a very good pitch. Of all the Champion Trophy games, this pitch turned the least and that doesn’t work in favour of Afghanistan. Should be another high scoring game. The ball will come nicely on to the bat. The bowlers will have to hit the 6m and 8m mark. You will have to keep the sticks in play.
Toss : Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and chose to bat with no changes in the Playing XI. England skipper Jos Buttler who also wanted to bat first made once change in the Playing XI with injured Brydon Carse being replaced by Jamie Overton.
Ibrahim Zadran’s record breaking 177 powers Afghanistan to 325 to 7 in 50 overs
Afghanistan’s total of 325 might seem underpowered in the context of England’s 351 that was chased down by Australia with relative ease just a few nights ago on this stadium. However, it is prudent to view this from a prism of where they had been in this crucial Group B encounter after electing to bat. It was a ploy that had served them well 16 months ago when they beat England in a World Cup encounter at New Delhi. But here, they were put under early strife by Jofra Archer, who bowled six of England’s first 11 overs and reduced the opposition to 37 for 3.
After taking 106 balls to get to this century, Ibrahim Zadran needed only 28 for his next 50 as he and Mohammad Nabi opened the sluice gates against a faltering England attack. Ibrahim Zadran found a six and three successive boundaries off Archer’s over while Nabi matched that enterprise by clubbing Joe Root for a pair of sixes.
England also began to make errors on the field in the form of missed half-chances and general clumsiness with even Liam Livingstone seemingly picking up an injury. The all-rounder did return to bowl a fantastic 50th over, giving away just two runs for two wickets, but Afghanistan had plundered 113 from the final 10 overs to give their vaunted spin attack a substantial total to defend.
Archer, hitting immaculate lengths in his first spell, took the feet away from the Afghanistan batters so much so that they were caught off-guard against the change-ups. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sediqullah Atal fell to the full balls while Rahmat Shah was prized out by a surprise short ball. In the company of captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ibrahim Zadran began the rebuild job, finding the odd boundary to keep the scoreboard ticking.
He got to his half-century off 65 balls as Afghanistan crossed 100 in the 25th over. The acceleration began three overs later when he took down Jamie Overton for 16 runs, which included a slap back over the bowler’s head for a six. No sooner had the Ibrahim Zadran-Shahidi partnership crossed 100 than the latter fell for 40, attempting to reverse a very full ball from Adil Rashid and losing his stumps.
The duo gave the Afghans the much-needed platform they needed. Adil Rashid separated the duo in the 30th over after getting rid of Shahidi, who scored a patient 40 off 67. Ibrahim Zadran, in the meantime, got to his half-century off 65 balls, after which he racked up his hundred off 106 balls. Thereafter, Ibrahim Zadran broke Ben Duckett’s record for the highest individual score in Champions Trophy history, making 177 runs off 146 balls, laced with 12 fours and six sixes.
Ibrahim Zadran slowed down briefly as he got closer to the century but Azmatullah Omarzai ensured there was no dip in the scoring and added 41 off just 31 including a takedown of Mark Wood, who was down on pace in his second spell after seemingly suffering a knee injury and spending substantial time off the field.
Azmatullah Omarzai used the long handle to good effect, scoring a quick-fire 41 off 31 balls. 40-year-old Mohammad Nabi brought forth all his experience to blast 40 off 24. Nabi and Ibrahim Zadran’s 121-run stand put the Afghans in a position of strength. Liam Livingstone picked up two wickets in the final over, but by then, the Afghans had already gone way past the 300-run mark.
After taking 106 balls to get to this century, Ibrahim Zadran needed only 28 for his next 50 as he and Mohammad Nabi opened the sluice gates against a faltering England attack. Ibrahim Zadran found a six and three successive boundaries off Archer’s over while Nabi matched that enterprise by clubbing Joe Root for a pair of sixes.
England also began to make errors on the field in the form of missed half-chances and general clumsiness with even Liam Livingstone seemingly picking up an injury. The all-rounder did return to bowl a fantastic 50th over, giving away just two runs for two wickets, but Afghanistan had plundered 113 from the final 10 overs to give their vaunted spin attack a substantial total to defend.
Azmatullah Omarzai’s 5-fer gives Afghanistan an emphatic 8-run victory over England to send them out of Champions Trophy 2025 as Joe Root’s 120 runs went into vain.
England’s target of 326 was daunting but not insurmountable, as they themselves had discovered on this same ground on Saturday night, when their own hefty total of 351 for 8 had been hunted down by Australia with 15 balls to spare. And yet, it was close to double the sort of target that England might at one stage had envisioned.
The scoreboard pressure was quickly brought to bear. Phil Salt started with a confident thump for four that telegraphed the trueness of the surface, but then lost his off bail as he tried to pull a skiddy length ball from Omarzai.
Phil Salt got going with two boundaries in the first over but lost his stumps while attempting to swipe Omarzai across the line.England then slipped to 30 for 2 when for the second game in a row, Mohammad Nabi struck with his first ball. This time Jamie Smith chipped a leading edge straight to point in a bid to lay down an early marker against spin.
And though Jamie Smith is undoubtedly a name for the future, it’s debatable whether he is the No.3 for the present. Certainly his dismissal was guileless in the extreme: a no-look gallop at the irrepressible Nabi, who skidded his off break through a touch quicker, to claim a wicket with the first ball of his spell for the third ODI in a row.
Even under some pressure, Root managed a very pristine start to his innings, finding the boundary thrice in his first 10 balls as England added 60 runs in the PowerPlay. As ever, his footwork against spin was exemplary as he alternated between either going back deep into his crease, or using his reach to meet the ball early with his reverse sweeps.
Ben Duckett, as he had been in his big century against Australia, scored mostly in the ‘v’ down the ground. The southpaw was a recipient of a reprieve when he was put down by captain Hashmatullah Shahidi on 30.
But Duckett managed to add only eight more runs before he played around a slider from Rashid Khan and was pinged on the pads. The Afghans managed to end the 68-run stand with a review that overruled the on-field ‘not out’ decision against Duckett.
However, they weren’t particularly good at building the pressure on the new batter and like Root before, Harry Brook managed three boundaries from the first 11 balls he faced to get off to start. Eventually, the fourth wicket came against the run of play as Brook tamely chipped a catch back to Nabi for the veteran’s second wicket.
At 133 for 4 in the 22nd over, England were in some strife especially with Buttler struggling to find any kind of tempo to his innings against the spinners. The England captain survived an LBW review against Nabi on Umpire’s Call and his attempts to reverse sweep Noor Ahmad didn’t pay any dividends. Even as Root held one end up, batting serenely, Buttler’s struggles added to the scoreboard pressure. He was on 12 off 24 at one point before he cut loose by charging Nabi and lofting a six. Another maximum came soon enough, this time via a slog sweep.
Now it was all on Root. For the first 90-odd balls of his innings, England’s anchorman might as well have been on a serene stroll in Iqbal Park, with his innings scarcely deviating from a run-a-ball tempo. But then, after reaching his 50 from 50 and his hundred from 98, he felt the early onset of cramp, and with 58 still required from six overs, he inverted his stance into a Buttler-style ramp, and pinged his only six over the keeper’s head.
England’s two most senior batters added 83 before Omarzai returned with another twist by bouncing out Buttler for a 42-ball 38. Gulbadin Naib had Liam Livingstone caught behind cheaply as England headed to the final 10 overs of the chase needing 90. Jamie Overton then played it smartly, eschewing all risks in the remaining overs of spin bowled by Noor and Rashid to hold back the attack for Afghanistan’s medium pacers.
But it was too much to ask for Root to walk the innings home. He kept looking for the angles, and found one final sublime deflection for four through backward square, but at the precise moment at which Afghanistan’s own innings had gone into overdrive, he attempted a flick over deep third off another skidder Omarzai lifter, and was sent on his way via a scuff of the gloves to the keeper.
But as it turned, he and the rest of his colleagues were up against an inspired Omarzai. Joe Root completed a 98-ball 100 and even as he began to experience the after effects of his long innings in the heat, he still managed to unfurl a pair of outstanding shots. One of them was a reverse-scoop for six against Farooqi while the other was a delayed bat swing to maneuver a short ball past square leg for four. England needed 39 to win off 25 when he hobbled off the field for 120 after being undone by Omarzai’s slower-ball bouncer.
Overton and Jofra Archer dragged England closer but like some others before him, the former chose the wrong option at the wrong time as he chipped Omarzai to long on with just 17 to win off 14. With an injured Mark Wood in at 11, the game had turned decisively for one last time on the day.
Jamie Overton seemed to have got the memo with the long-levered finish that he had so long promised but rarely delivered, but having brought the chase within reach with 32 from 28 balls, he attempted another takedown and found long-on with 17 still needed. And though Jofra Archer seemed to be riding his luck with an under-edge for four and a sprawling reprieve at deep cover, he was unable to close it out either. Thirteen from eight was needed when he flung his hands through an Omarzai slower ball, for Nabi in the deep to make no mistake.
Minutes later, it was all done and dusted. Afghanistan march onto what could have been another politically charged showdown with Australia, with a place in the semi-finals at stake, having already crushed the hopes of their new favourite tournament bunnies. Irrespective of the situation in their homeland, a remarkable set of players have once again epitomised the hope and escapism in tough times that only sport can provide.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Hashmatullah Shahidi the winning Afghanistan skipper 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 tense game. We controlled it well. I am happy with the result. Zadran is a talented guy. We were three down at the beginning and the pressure was on.
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. We have talented youngsters and some senior guys. Everyone knows their role.
Everyone is doing good. Hopefully, we will take the momentum to the game versus Australia. It will give us confidence but it will be a new day. That game will decide who will go to the semis. We will do what is good for us on that day.
Jos Buttler the losing England skipper said : Disappointing to be knocked out of the tournament early. We had our chances in the game and we didn’t take them. Root played an unbelievable innings and we needed one of the top six batters to stay with him. The last 10 overs got away from us a bit. Credit to Ibrahim, he played a fantastic innings. 113 off the last 10 pushed them up to a very good score on that pitch.
Unfortunately in his 4th over he (Wood) felt his knee, credit to him for bowling through the pain and showing a lot of character. It was difficult (in the death overs with Wood injured and Root bowling the 47th over), Livi was also off the field but credit to him for coming back.
He (Root) has been a brilliant player in all formats and showed us the way to handle the pressure. His ODI record is fantastic. If I knew I wouldn’t be playing the way I am (referring to his bad form), being one of the best players in the world it is disappointing when you don’t perform. Don’t want to make any emotional decisions.
Ibrahim Zadran Player of the Match for his historic 177 runs said : 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.
England are out of the 2025 Champions Trophy, their insipid challenge floundering in another major tournament as a vibrant Afghanistan ran home victors by eight runs in a scintillating clash at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. On a ground in which they failed to defend 351 a few nights ago, England fumbled in a chase of 326 despite being propped up by an excellent 120 by Joe Root – his first ODI century in nearly six years.
Afghanistan’s second win over England in as many ICC ODI events was underpinned by a record-breaking 146-ball 177 from Ibrahim Zadran that rescued the side from a wobbly start which saw them reduced to 37 for 3. Zadran’s knock was both the highest-ever score in Champions Trophy history as well as the highest individual score in the format for an Afghanistan batter.
However, the more influential contribution on another belter of a surface in Lahore came from Azmatullah Omarzai, who backed up his 31-ball 41 with career-best figures of 5 for 58 to wrestle back a game, which at different times, appeared to be drifting away from his side.
The politicians hadn’t wanted this game to go ahead, but who could have wished to deny the scenes of raw euphoria that unfolded in Lahore, as Afghanistan completed the double they had set in motion at the 2023 World Cup and dumped England out of the Champions Trophy in a wildly undulating, anxious scramble for glory.
Eight runs was the margin when – with Mark Wood hobbled and all the recognised batters gone – Adil Rashid swung for the hills off the penultimate ball of the match and picked out the man of the hour, Ibrahim Zadran, whose take in front of the dug-out was completed with the same coolness with which he had compiled his exceptional knock of 177 from 146 balls – an innings that had simply been too good to fail.
Much the same could have been said for England’s main man of their 326-run chase, Joe Root, whose 120 from 111 balls was his 17th in the ODI format but, remarkably, his first since the 2019 World Cup.
Had he had a bit more support, and had he not been racked with cramp going into the final push, his run-a-ball tempo might have been more than sufficient to seize the day. Instead, he was undone by an effort ball from the indefatigable Azmatullah Omarzai, whose five-wicket haul followed a priceless knock of 41 from 31 balls that had helped to pull his own team out of a tailspin.
Speaking straight afterwards, a shell-shocked Jos Buttler insisted he would not be making any “emotional” statements about his future as captain, but acknowledged the fundamental lack of confidence that had contributed to his team’s downfall.
Afghanistan have picked up their first win. Pakistan, Bangladesh and now England are out of CT 2025. Azmatullah was awarded the ICC ODI Player of the Year and you know why! He turned the game around with the bat first and then struck five blows to dwarf Root’s ton. Afghanistan and their big runs in ICC events continue. They would be chuffed with this win. Earlier, Zadran played one of the knocks of the Champions Trophy across all editions with a massive 177.
He single-handedly gave Afghanistan 325 to play with. England didn’t start well. But Root and Duckett batted well to keep them in touch with the rate. But Duckett fell. Brook and Buttler got starts but didn’t convert. Those wickets got Afghanistan back in the game. Then when Root departed after a fine hundred, Archer came in and hit some boundaries.
It seemed England had the edge but Overton played a poor shot to holed out at long-on. Post that Farooqi and Azmatullah managed to squeeze out the win. Azmat was carried on Naveed Zadran’s shoulder as he almost carried his team’s bowling on his able shoulders throughout the chase. This was an epic game and am sure it won’t be forgotten for a long time to come. They were supposed to be the giant killers but they are doing this at regular intervals at the top level.
Only five teams remain in the fray! This started off as an 8 team event. England is the latest casualty. Buttler and his men would be hurting. It must be feeling England of pre 2015 when their ICC event performances weren’t that great. But the 2019 WC champions would find this as a tough pill to swallow. They finished 7th on the table in the 2023 WC.
And now have been knocked out here. They scored 300 in both the games but couldn’t defend once and failed to chase it tonight. Fairy tales and Afghanistan have been synonymous for some time. And they have added another fable to it. They will be facing the mighty Aussies next and it promises to be a fascinating affair as well. For the moment Afghanistan will reverberate with the names of Ibrahim Zadran and Azmatullah. Our energies were well spent today.