To get up to 143, Ali and Willey played really well.
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The 2010 winners were in dire straits at 57-6 halfway through their innings before a half-century stand between Moeen Ali (41) and David Willey (20) salvaged the situation.
England must now beat Sri Lanka and hope that their net run rate is sufficient should there be teams locked together on the same number of points.
And Morgan, who was bowled for a golden duck, said that the team should not have been caught unawares by the more turning conditions in New Delhi and had failed to adapt to their new surroundings.
“Coming here and playing a T20 World Cup I think this is the type of wicket that every single one of us were expecting”, he added. Willey also got stuck into Hamza’s left-arm spin as the duo managed to score 25 runs in the penultimate over. The difference of chasing 120 and 140 is huge. First and foremost we need to go into the game with the right mindset. “I think as a side they can be quite strong and very destructive”. Clean bowled! England 16/1 in 3 overs.
After a steady enough start, England’s innings dramatically collapsed in the sixth over when three key wickets – James Vince (22), Morgan (0) and Joe Root (12) – fell in the space of four balls off the bowling of Mohammad Nabi.
But veteran off-spinner Mohammad Nabi’s introduction reaped immediate rewards.
After Najibullah Zadran, Shenwari and Hamza departed, Shafiqullah tried in vain to fire his side to an unlikely win with four fours and two sixes but 35 from the last 12 balls was too much. Speaking on today’s game, the spinner said that they played well and their spinner did the good job for them.
Looking at the positives from the contest, Rashid said: “It was a good game”.
Willey (2-23) removed Mohammad Shahzad (4) in the very first over trapping him lbw while Jordan (1-27) sent Asghar Stanikzai (1) back, having him caught in the slips.
When England dissect their efforts in the cold light of day they will surely reflect harshly on an error-strewn show from the top six, and one that was curiously ham-fisted when compared to their stunning chase against South Africa just five days ago. “They have some outstanding spinners but have lost a fair bit of experience”.
But a final flourish that lifted Afghanistan to 127-9 at the close could yet come back to haunt England after the final three group games are played out. “The more they play global cricket, the more their talent will improve”.
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A rearguard attack from Moeen Ali rescued England against Afghanistan after a calamitous batting performance threatened to consign them to a shock World Twenty20 defeat.
