NEW DELHI: Afghanistan set a challenging target of 285 runs for England in the 13th match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 held in Delhi on Sunday.
After being put in to bat first by England’s captain Jos Buttler, Afghanistan’s innings saw a strong start with openers Rehmanullah Gurbaz (80) and Ibrahim Zadran (28) forging a solid partnership of 114 runs. However, England’s bowlers made a strong comeback, claiming three wickets for just eight runs.
Skipper Shahidi (14) and Omarzai (19) also fell quickly, but Ikram Alikhil (58) along with contributions from Mujeeb Ur Rehman (28) and Rashid Khan (23) pushed the team’s total to 284 runs before being all out on the penultimate ball of the innings.
Adil Rashid led England’s bowling attack, securing three wickets, while Mark Wood took two. Reece Topley, Liam Livingstone, and Joe Root each claimed one wicket. Additionally, two Afghanistan batters were run out during the innings.
In the post-toss remarks, Jos Buttler mentioned that there was no specific reason for choosing to field first. He stated that it was a good batting surface, and England had retained an unchanged playing XI. Afghanistan’s captain Hashmatullah Shahidi had expressed a preference for bowling first during the toss.
England Squad
1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Harry Brook, 5 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Mark Wood, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Topley
Afghanistan Squad
1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), 5 Azmatullah Omarzai, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Ikram Alikhil (wk), 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi
