Blog - England knocked out as Zadran, Omarzai inspire Afghanistan

Azmatullah Omarzai holds his nerve! Rashid picks out long-off, and Afghanistan prevail by eight runs. What an incredible all-round performance. 41 off 31 with the bat. 5 for 58 with the ball. Afghanistan are still alive in the Champions Trophy and England are heading home. They have fallen away so quickly in white-ball cricket. 18 months ago, they were defending world champions in both 50-over and 20-over cricket. Now, they are nowhere.

Another huge moment! Rashid and Archer can only trade singles, and Archer looks to release the pressure with a boundary. But he doesn't get enough of it, and can only pick out - who else? - Mohammad Nabi in the deep, running in from long-on. Jos Buttler covers his eyes in despair. Mark Wood, on one leg, is in at No. 11, and his first ball is a dot. 13 needed off the last over, 12 for a Super Over.

What a game. Jamie Overton equals his highest ODI score with 32, but can't surpass it. Azmatullah's slower ball sticks in the pitch a touch, and he can only pick out Nabi at long-on. Didn't commit to the shot. Looked like he was trying to knock it into the gap for one rather than hit it for a boundary.

Clever tactics from Afghanistan, who slowed the game down before that ball. Azmatullah called for the sawdust, taking the sting out of the game and just disrupting the batters' rhythm somewhat. 16 needed off the last 12 balls.

England take 10 runs off the 47th over, with Jofra Archer's streaky boundary off the third ball helping to relieve the scoring pressure, briefly. Remember, if this is tied then we'll be down to a Super Over, with the loser eliminated...

Is that the game? It's Azmatullah Omarzai again, delivering another huge moment for Afghanistan. This is a slippery short ball, which cramps Root for room. He shapes to upper-cut but the line is too tight, and he can only glove it through to Gurbaz behind the stumps. England need 39 off 25... It's up to Jamie Overton and Jofra Archer.

Low-key celebration from Joe Root as he works leg-side to reach a 98-ball century, ending a long drought in this format. His last was during England's successful World Cup campaign, way back in June 2019, when he filled in as an opener for the injured Jason Roy. Still plenty of work to do.

"The golden arm of Gulbadin," says Dale Steyn on commentary. He'd hardly been part of this game for its first 88 overs, facing three balls with the bat and going unused with the ball. But he picks up a wicket with his fourth ball, Liam Livingstone slashing hard at a length ball in the channel and getting a thick outside edge through to Gurbaz behind the stumps. Livingstone flatters to deceive once again. It's all on Joe Root now!

No sooner had Jos Buttler given the impression he was in command, he's gone! A short ball from Azmat, skidding into a forceful pull and taking a top-edge out to midwicket! Rahmat Shah settles beneath the chance, to end a fifth-wicket stand of 83, and bring Liam Livingstone to the middle for what must surely be a make-or-break innings. With a long tail to follow, including the long-levered but out-of-sorts Jamie Overton, England cannot afford to ship any more wickets before the final ten-over push. Livingstone duly gets off the mark with a streaky spliced edge for four...

England have been ahead of the rate from the outset of this chase, and even allowing for Afghanistan's 113 runs in their final 10 overs, they have got their fortunes in their own hands so long as this key fifth-wicket stand endures. Sure enough, after his dicey start, that six from Buttler has got his juices flowing and a second six off Mohammad Nabi has dragged him back towards a run a ball. Joe Root, meanwhile, is closing in on the century that eluded him against Australia. He had a scary moment when Azmat skidded a length ball over his leg stump, but a pull through midwicket sees off Rashid Khan's eighth over, to chew away at the innings' dangerman.

How much will Afghanistan miss Mujeeb Ur Rahman in this situation? He was player of the match when England collapsed in their chase at the World Cup, but he's out of commission at present as he manages a hand injury.

Jos Buttler played down his concerns ahead of this match, but if ever there was a player whose mood dictates their innings, it is England's captain. Defeat here could spell the end of his leadership stint, and for the first 24 balls of this stay, he has been batting with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He had one massive let-off on 9, when Mohammad Nabi tweaked one into his pads but couldn't extract the on-field decision from umpire Wilson, despite Gurbaz's exhortations behind the stumps. But on 12, he finally connected with a clip off his toes for England's first six of the innings. Can that be the shot that changes his day? Root meantime ticks along serenely, as the requirement drops below 150 going into the final 20.

A nudged googly from Rashid Khan, and Joe Root jogs through for a cool run-a-ball fifty. It's his second in as many innings in this tournament, but if ever he needed to convert to a 17th ODI hundred, it is now. Win Predictor still reckons England are a 14% chance. Lose him now, and it will be as good as zip.

Just when it seemed that Harry Brook had got the measure of this chase... in the dewy conditions, and in a country where he has a Test triple-century to his name, the ease of Brook's early strokeplay had drawn so much of the jeopardy from England's chase. He had cruised along to 25 from 20 balls with three cherry-picked fours, the best of them a creamy cover-drive to leave a big dent in Rashid Khan's figures. But the old pro Nabi is never knowingly out of a contest. He keeps probing away with his high-armed action, until sending down a half-tracker that gives his quarry almost too many options. He chooses the worst of them: a nothing poke in the air, back down the pitch to a gleeful bowler. In comes England's skipper, with the best part of 200 runs still needed. This is getting very dicey now. At least Joe Root knows the drill. But who will stay with him?

Ben Duckett had a life before the drinks break, but he doesn't last long thereafter! As Afghanistan glugged their Gatorade, the most animated figure in their huddle was Rashid Khan, and sure enough he's the man to make the breakthrough, with his 199th ODI wicket! It needs a review to get him there, as Duckett is pinned on the pads by a very leg-sided googly. Umpire Rod Tucker deems it has pitched outside leg, but no! Ball-Tracker decides that has landed on the line of leg itself, and with Duckett so far back in his crease, there's no doubt where it's headed. A key partnership is broken and England'S in-form man is gone.

It's particularly vital given Duckett's prowess against legspin. He took Adam Zampa for 50 runs from 36 balls faced on this same ground on Saturday, and had begun in a similar vein with a flat pull through midwicket.

Much as they did against Australia in their opening fixture, Ben Duckett and Joe Root have shown admirable resolve in ticking along to a fifty stand for the third wicket, from a brisk 40 balls. Then as now, they came together midway through the powerplay and have set themselves for the long haul, safe in the knowledge that Afghanistan themselves started very slowly at the outset of their own innings, and there is plenty scope for catching up at the back end. Particularly if, as it would appear, the dew makes its appearance to help the ball skid onto the bat under the floodlights.

But, then, a massive let-off for Duckett on 29! He closes the face to Fazalhaq Farooqi, and a leading edge loops to Shahidi at mid-off. He has to reach forward, but that is a sitter, and down it goes! The Afghan fans and players alike are aghast. How much will that change things?

Now then... is it happening again, you have to wonder? England's well-documented troubles against spin are put on notice at the very moment that Mohammad Nabi takes the ball at the start of the seventh over. Jamie Smith's eyes light up as he sizes up Nabi's classical looping offspin, and gallops to the perceived pitch of the ball. But the wily old stalwart sees him coming and skids the ball through. It takes a fat outside edge, loops to Azmat at backward point, and at 30 for 2, there's a sticky rebuild to be undertaken by Duckett and Joe Root.

It's the third consecutive ODI innings in which Mohammad Nabi has taken a wicket off the first ball he bowled. Not bad for a 40-year-old.

A swish across the line from Salt, looking to pick up the length ball through midwicket, but it skids through faster and flatter than he had intended, so flush into the off bail that the leg bail doesn't flinch, and Afghanistan have struck early in the powerplay! It's Azmatullah Omarzai with the crucial breakthrough. Out comes Jamie Smith at 3, with huge pressure already on this chase.

It had always been on the cards, seeing as he started the match just four runs shy of the landmark, but nonetheless Ben Duckett gets there in typical style, with a trademark drive through the covers off Azmatullah Omarzai.

He is the joint-fastest to the mark by an England batter, in terms of innings played, alongside Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen and Dawid Malan, with Michael Atherton (and his 57 strike-rate) an improbable fifth entry on 25 innings.

It's the continuation of a poised start to England's chase, with Phil Salt's first-ball thump for four confirming that this is still a very true surface.

Liam Livingstone is back on the field, which is good news for England, but Jos Buttler cannot have imagined needing him to bowl the final over of the innings. To his credit, he holds his nerve to induce a slog-sweep to deep square leg, where Ibrahim Zadran's magnificent innings ends for 177 from 146 balls. It's a stunning innings in every respect... the nous to dig in while the bowlers were in charge, the power to cut loose as the partnerships grew, and the endurance to take his innings into the 50th and final over.

Mohammad Nabi holes out too, for a brilliantly under-stated 40 from 24 balls, as England close out with a measure of calm. But this will not be an easy chase by any measure.

A slot ball from Jofra Archer, blazed over long-on for a fearfully hard-hit six, and that's a new Champions Trophy record. Duckett's 165 wasn't enough for victory on this same ground last week... but such is England's discombobulation, you wouldn't bet on this one going in vain...

It's a new record for Afghanistan in ODIs too ... breaking his own record.

A trio of twos from Ibrahim Zadran, and up comes a stupendous 150, with room for significantly more. It's only a few days since Ben Duckett set a new tournament best with his 165 against Australia, and that's in danger already.

And so, too, is England's place in the tournament. Because, not only are they faced with Mark Wood's absence through a knee injury, they've just lost Liam Livingstone too, who bent to gather the second of those Zadran twos, and immediately felt his own knee. He stayed on for one more ball, then hobbled off too. He's one of England's bowling options, remember, not to mention a vital source of batting oomph. And they may need it, with a 300-plus total on the cards now.

Root enters the attack, and Mohammad Nabi pounds him over deep midwicket first and second ball! Uh oh... he tries to hide the third outside off, but Duckett at point fumbles to give away four more. Ibrahim caps a 23-run over with a beautiful drive through the covers. This England team is falling apart in front of our eyes!

This is looking masochistic from Wood and England. Once again he tumbles in his followthrough, once again he folds into his left knee and is left grimacing as he gets back to his feet. He is hobbling visibly now, but with England already limited in their bowling options, he sees out his eighth over to ensure that Buttler doesn't have to eat into his alternatives, then takes his leave once more, quite possibly not to return.

Ibrahim's response is to plant his front foot to his next ball, from Jofra Archer, and slam another mighty six over wide long-on. There's real danger for England now, as Ibrahim takes down the rest of the over with three defts carves through the off side to bring up the 250 in a 20-run over. Thirty overs of spin to come from Afghanistan's gun attack, and they have previous for closing this team down at ICC events...

A deft change of pace from Jamie Overton, not a man who screams subtlety, and Omarzai's breezy knock is done. He looks for the launch through the line over long-on, but drags his stroke a touch off the toe-end, for Tom Banton, the substitute fielder, to pocket a calm catch just inside the rope. He goes for 41 to end a very handy 72-run stand, with exactly ten overs to come. Back comes Adil Rashid for his penultimate over, and an opening to exploit.

Off comes the helmet, up go the arms. It's a sixth ODI hundred from Ibrahim Zadran, and it's come off 106 balls with six fours and three sixes. The milestone moment is a clipped single to midwicket off Liam Livingstone, and on his watch Afghanistan have recovered from a distinctly ropey 37 for 3 in the powerplay to a very potent 190 for 4 after 37 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai continues his fine form with straight-driven six to bring up a 50 stand for the fifth wicket in 45 balls, and when he lashes Wood for four and six in the first two balls of his next over, the 200 comes up in style! Not for the first time in this tournament, England are struggling to make mid-innings inroads.

Sampath has the stats to hand:

Fewest innings to score six hundreds in men's ODIs:
23 - Dawid Malan
27 - Imam-ul-Haq
29 - Upul Tharanga
32 - Babar Azam
34 - Hashim Amla
35 - Quinton de Kock / Daryl Mitchell / Shubman Gill / Ibrahim Zadran

He's got a remarkable ticker, you have to give him that. Mark Wood looked down and out after his fourth over, as he limped from the pitch with a worrying knee injury. But, after 38 minutes of treatment and the requisite time back on the field, back he comes to the attack to replace Adil Rashid in the 34th over.

His first delivery is a relatively tentative 133kph, but he's up to 142kph with his next ball, and it's on a good attacking full length too. His third is a full toss, but it's up to 146kph.

Deliveries of 144kph, 142kph and a 125kph slower ball complete a very tidy over. He still looks to be hobbling but that might equally be the strapping that he's got on that limb, which might be a touch restrictive. Either way, he's conceded 16 runs in five overs so far, and is looking a vital factor in restricting Afghanistan's total.

When you need a breakthrough, where else do you turn? Adil Rashid could, perhaps should, have made the difference against Australia last week, when Jofra Archer dropped that clanger in the deep to reprieve Alex Carey. But this time he takes the more direct approach to end a vital century stand for Afghanistan. A front-of-the-hand slider to Hashmat, who kneels to sweep but the ball is too full for such antics. It pitches by his foot, and skids round his legs into the stumps. He's gone for 40 from 67, and at 140 for 4, the innings is in the balance again.

The worm turns for Afghanistan. Previously, there had been just one 10-run over in the course of their slow-rebuild of an innings. But after Jamie Overton was welcomed back into the attack with a sweetly driven thump back down the ground by Ibrahim Zadran, his next over was properly taken down - 16 runs flowing from it with two fours and a magnificent six over long-off. With Hashmat steadfast at the other end, the century stand comes up from 119 balls. Eight an over from here carries Afghanistan to the vital 300 mark.

He gets there with a swish through a Liam Livingstone full-toss, and a collision with Rod Tucker as he rushes through for his single! He was already livid with himself for missing out on a boundary, but it's an important effort for Afghanistan nonetheless. After three single-figure scores from his colleagues in the powerplay, he has applied some ballast to the innings, and has been the source of most of their boundaries too, including both sixes - one a touch streaky through fine leg off Wood, but the other a luscious thump down the ground off Rashid. With Hashmat alongside him, the hundred comes up in the 25th over. It'll need some acceleration to make this rebuild count, but consolidation will do for now.

Amid the uncertainty of Wood's fitness, Jos Buttler has opted to frontload his other frontline options. Jofra Archer, the day's key spearhead, has already sent down six of the first 11 overs, while the post-powerplay work has been shared by Adil Rashid and Jamie Overton, who haven't yet added to England's three wickets, but have kept the pressure on by conceding their runs at less than four an over between them, with just the one boundary - a wide half-volley from Overton, skewed away by Hashmatullah.

And then, just as Joe Root enters the attack for the first sighting of England's fifth option, back comes Wood... galloping onto the pitch, looking fairly free through that dodgy knee. He's been off the pitch for 38 minutes, so won't be featuring in the attack for at least that long, which shouldn't affect England's strategy too much ... assuming he really is fit to continue, of course.

Meanwhile the squeeze continues, even as Hashmat and Ibrahim bring up their fifty stand. Just four fours and two sixes in the first 20 overs, which is comfortably the fewest in that period of any innings in this Champions Trophy.

This is deeply concerning for England. Mark Wood is prone to landing in a heap in his followthrough, but midway through his fourth over, he appears to fold into his left knee with particularly jarring force. He lies prostrate for a while, receiving treatment, and though he insists he's good to continue for the remaining two balls of the over, he is visibly grimacing as he hits the crease, and sure enough, he troops off for treatment thereafter.

A big worry for England, in the short term as well as the long term. They are already reliant on Liam Livingstone and Joe Root as their fifth bowling option, and now could have an additional six overs to make up.

... not, however, if Jofra Archer has anything to do with it! He needs just five more deliveries to prise out his third of the innings, as the dangerous Rahmat Shah top-edges a pull to Adil Rashid at backward square. He made 90 against South Africa, but is gone for 4 now.

We probably never imagined it would take the best part of six years for Archer to reach this mark, seeing as he had 23 ODI wickets and a World Cup winner's medal within months of his debut in 2019. But a gruesome run of injuries, coupled with the marginalisation of the ODI format, has contributed to this slow trudge to what is still a worthy landmark. And, as if to prove the peculiarity of the stat, Sampath our stats man informs me he's the fastest English bowler to the mark, in 30 matches, beating James Anderson's previous mark of 31.

And, as if to make up for lost time, Archer barely pauses for breath in claiming his 51st! Sediqullah Atal clips his first ball for four to end the boundary-less start, but Archer adjusts to the left-hander by his third ball, and finds an angle into his pads on a fuller length, that pitches in line and would have been hitting middle had Atal's pad not got in the way.

As Danyal Rasool notes, 23 balls of the first 24 were either length or back of a length from England - and then 2 full deliveries from Jofra got the wickets.

It's a watchful start from Afghanistan's openers in Lahore, as England throw everything at the powerplay once more, as was the case against Australia as well. No boundaries in the first four overs, as Jofra Archer and Mark Wood come out of the blocks with fiery intent.

There's perhaps a touch more lateral movement this time out, as befits the overcast conditions, which is giving Wood a particularly threatening bend away from the right-hander, at a sharp 148-149kph ... maybe a notch below his rawest speeds on Saturday, but decidedly brisk all the same, and all the more threatening for the accuracy. Ibrahim and Gurbaz can do little but stick it out for now.

EDIT: And there we go. The pressure tells at the start of the fifth over. Jofra fires in another inswinger, and Gurbaz inside-edges a drive off his back pad and into his own stumps! It's a vital breakthrough, as it extracts one of the truest dangermen in this Afghanistan order. England have their reward for perseverence.

No surprises in either team, with Afghanistan unchanged, and with Jamie Overton slotting into England's line-up as the like-for-like for the injured Brydon Carse. But there's perhaps a slight surprise at the toss, with Afghanistan choosing to bat first, rather than pitch their trump card, their spin attack, straight into the fray. Then again, this was the formula that worked just fine for them in Delhi 18 months ago. So the stage is set.

There was a hint of dew in the offing during Australia's chase at this ground in England's first match, which may yet be a factor. It's a coolish, overcast day in Lahore, which may exacerbate the evening moisture.

England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jamie Smith (wk), 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jos Buttler (capt), 7 Liam Livingstone, 8 Jamie Overton, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood

Afghanistan: 1 Ibrahim Zadran, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Sediqullah Atal, 4 Rahmat Shah, 5 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Gulbadin Naib, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi

For a deeper dive into the wider issues at stake in this contest, here is Valkerie Baynes' and Firdose Moonda's excellent Powerplay podcast, in which they spoke to Afghanistan's women cricketers Firooza Amiri and Benafsha Hashimi about the dangers that their love of the game caused for them following the Taliban takeover.