Afghanistan beat England in the group stages of the ICC World Cup 2023 and created history. They bowled out England’s gigantic batting array of just 215 while chasing a big target. England Skipper Jos Buttler expressed his dismay and praised Afghanistan. Jos Buttler was undone by Naveen-ul-Haq and castled his stumps
This is the first time Afghanistan has beaten England in the history of the World Cup, which is a very confident thing for a team like Afghanistan. On the other side, England is shocked by this setback because they are the world champions.
England started as a favorite, but Afghanistan showed great character. They batted first, and their openers threaded a beautiful stand of 114 at a quick pace. In the middle phase, Afghanistan went off track with quick wickets.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz looked very good and was carrying the whole inning but got run out on 80 in just 57 balls. Young Ikram Alikhil gave the finishing touch at the backend with his half century along the tail enders. Afghanistan set a big target of 284.
England lost Jonny Bairstow early, just scoring two. Joe Root also lost his wicket very early. Dawid Malan hung for a little while, but wickets kept falling at regular intervals, and England just bowled out on 215. The Afghanistan bowlers did a brilliant job; they never let a partnership grow between the batters, and they won the match by 69 runs.
In the post-match presentation, skipper Jos Buttler apologizes for their ablaze performance
“Credit goes to Afghanistan; they outplayed us today. They have some fantastic bowlers; the dew didn’t come in as much as we expected, and the ball held up a bit too. They bowled dead straight and kept the stumps in play.” said Jos Buttler.
“Disappointing to win the toss and concede that many, me missing that first ball down the leg side set the tone. You got to let these defeats hurt. There’s no point in getting over things too quickly; we need to reflect,” he stated.
There’s a lot of character in this group; we need to show a lot of resilience and come back stronger. We need to have guys who are able to perform under pressure, and that’s what all of us will be working hard towards,” he added.
Also read: ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: England’s Scratchy Performance Against Afghanistan