England cricket team would be shell-shocked after losing the match by a huge margin of 69 runs. The batters lacked intent and character as chasing 285 wasn’t a big task given how strong a batting lineup England possesses. Due to this defeat, the Britishers now have lost 2 matches from 3 and are placed in 5th position on the points table with an NRR of -0.084.
Afghanistan got a perfect start as the destructive right-handed batter Jonny Bairstow was trapped LBW in the 2nd over itself of the match. Bairstow could have made the powerplay overs count as a breezy half-century could have made life harder for Afghanistan’s bowling contingent.
Careless attitude by England
Mr. Dependable Joe Root should have taken some sort of responsibility in the steep run chase of 285 runs. Joe Root along with Dawid Malan must have played the tricky phase of powerplay overs smartly. Mujeeb-ur-Rahman foxed Joe Root and got the priced wicket and Root was dismissed for 11 runs in 17 balls.
All eyes were on Dawid Malan who got the start which the team required from the batter. The left handed batter was undone by Mohammad Nabi as his wicket proved to be the difference in the end. England were reduced to 68-3 inside 13 overs and slowly the run rate was creeping up.
Questionable selection
The non-selection of Moeen Ali & Jos Ben Stokes did hurt the side magnificently. Moeen Ali could have played the role of 2nd spinner along with Adil Rashid and the duo could have spurned a web across the batters. Skipper Jos Buttler made Joe Root roll his arm too which was quite productive.
Ben Stokes is someone who could have bailed the team out from the precarious position. Ben Stokes has the knack of playing the waiting game which is priceless in the modern cricket. The batting sensation Harry Brook played a stunning knock of 66 runs in 61 balls but couldn’t get the required support from the rest of the batting unit which hurt the team.