Despite Afghanistan’s batting credentials, pandemonium may have struck when Mohammad Shahzad, their most aggressive batsman, fell in the first over. Chasing 143, Afghanistan were kept at 127/9 in 20 overs. Moeen Ali carried on the innings then with David Willey and it was nearly becoming essential for England to play their full 20 overs. That’s a big one. SIX! ENG 132/7 in 19 overs.
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Yet Afghanistan have proved they are no walkover in this tournament and they put themselves right back into the match with three wickets in four balls. Nine runs came from the over.
The Afghans were never in the mix after being reduced to 13 for two and then 39 for five as England gained control of proceedings.
Khan (15) was promoted to number five and after an initial struggle, he hit a four and a six to push the total to 28 for three in the powerplay. Eng 16-1, 3 overs.
Based on each side’s performance, England had a 12% higher impact than Afghanistan.
Afghanistan may not be able to qualify for the semi-finals after three defeats from three in Group 1 but they will have one more chance to finish the tournament with victory over a Full Member when they take on West Indies in Nagpur on Sunday. Jos Butler was picked by Nabi who was on a roll for his team and Ben Stokes was done in by Rashid Khan.
The second was tossed up but Vince (22) merely pushed at it and sent a gentle return catch to the waiting Nabi. Good catch from Nabi.
When Joe Root was run out, England fans began to feel that familiar dread. Eoin Morgan will thus be keen to get this unsafe game out of the way before taking on a misfiring Sri Lanka. Nabi gets two in two.
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OUT! England lose their second.
But Mohammad Nabi’s introduction reaped immediate rewards as the veteran off-spinner soon had both danger men trudging back to the dugout. 14 runs came from the over.
The Afghan slow bowlers made England sweat on a hot and sunny afternoon in the Indian capital to reduce them to 85 for seven.
Shapoor Zadran comes in to bowl the next over. A cheeky reverse sweep for four followed but that was it. With the team at a delicate stage – 42/3 – he was run out for 12.
Hampshire’s James Vince is on standby to join Jason Roy at the top of the order should Hales be forced to sit out of the must-win match.
Amir Hamza, who is also known as Hamza Hotak, started off with a brilliant first over. Afghanistan were 15 runs short in their chase.
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The English top-order crumbled after Morgan chose to bat first on a tricky Delhi wicket, slumping to 57 for six with a series of careless dismissals.
