ENG VS AFG - 13th Match, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

This World Cup is heating up and there's a lot of excitement to come. We've got Australia going up against Sri Lanka tomorrow and that's a crucial game for both teams. We'll be back here tomorrow with all the action from Lucknow but until then, this is Anurag signing off on behalf of Abhinand, Abhinav, Pradeep and Praveen. Take care and goodbye.

What a day of cricket! Not many would've imagined Afghanistan beating England, particularly at Delhi where the batters had been having a feast. But boy did they turn up today. They were quite clinical and the belief and passion they played with was heartening to see. Remember, wins, let alone against teams like England, are quite rare for Afghanistan and to do it on such a stage will be a massive boost for the sport as a whole in the country. It's games like these that trigger sparks of inspiration in the generation to follow. And just like Hashmatullah Shahidi alluded to, this is just the beginning of grander things to come for Afghanistan cricket.

Hashmatullah Shahidi | Afghanistan captain: I’m quite happy, all the teammates are happy. This is the best win for us, the confidence will be there for the next game and I’m very proud. The openers get a lot of credit. They gave us a great start but unfortunately we lost back to back wickets in the middle again, lot of credit to the openers though, especially Gurbaz. Ikram was with us for the last 2 years and didn’t get a lot of chances, today I believed in him and gave him a chance and he repaid my faith. Mujeeb batted brilliantly, he led from the front and scored important runs for us. We have to score runs, our batting lineup needs to score more for our spinners. We have a lot of confidence about our spinners. Fazal started very well, the first wicket gave us a lot of momentum. When I was batting, I realized the wicket wasn’t supportive for batters against spinners. I told the boys that 280-290 will be enough when I got back into the dressing room. I want to say that the belief, trust and talent is there. Last couple of games we didn’t finish well but the belief is there. This is just the first win, we are looking for more in the tournament. This was just the first one, not the last one.

Jos Buttler | England captain: Disappointing to win the toss and concede that many, me missing that first ball down the leg side set the tone. Credit to Afghanistan, they outplayed us today. It came down to execution, we weren’t quite at the level we’d like to be with both bat and ball. They have some fantastic bowlers, the dew didn’t come in as much as we expected, the ball held up a bit too. They bowled dead straight and kept the stumps in play, we just weren’t quite good enough. You got to let these defeats hurt, there’s no point in getting over things too quickly, we need to reflect. There’s a lot of character in this group, we need to show a lot of resilience and come back stronger. We need to have guys being able to perform under pressure and that’s what all of us will be working hard towards.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman | Player of the Match (translated to English by Rashid Khan): Very proud moment to be here in the World Cup and beating the champions. It's a great achievement for the whole team, we worked hard for this day. We beat such a big team. It was a wonderful performance from the bowlers and the batters. As a spinner, it's pretty hard to bowl in the powerplay, you have only two fielders outside. That's something I've been working in the nets. Bowling with the new ball and trying to be as consistent as possible. That's something which has made me more effective. I am always trying to bowl stump to stump and keep it simple. We knew that the dew was going to come and play a part in the latter part. That's why I was telling the captain to bowl me in the powerplay. We were mentally prepared. (On his batting) It's all about the management, the players. They give me confidence in the nets. He has always been with me in the nets, my partner. He wants to hit each and every ball, that's the area I want to contribute as well. Those 20-25 runs means a lot for the team. This trophy is for the people back home who are affected by the earthquake in Herat. This whole win is for them.

Stats courtesy Shashikant Singh

- Afghanistan ended their 14-match losing streak in ODI World Cups. The only other win for Afghanistan in the World Cups was against Scotland in 2015 at Dunedin.

Most consecutive defeats in ODI World Cups
18 - Zimbabwe (1983-1992)
14 - Scotland (1999-2015)
14 - Afghanistan (2015-2023) - ended today
11 - Canada (2003-2011)
10 - Netherlands (1996-2003)

Spinners' bowling today
England: 24 overs, 94 runs, 5 wickets, ER 3.92
Afghanistan: 25.3 overs, 104 runs, 8 wickets, ER 4.11

- Teams batting first have won 6 of the 8 matches in Delhi since 2013. The two exceptions were India’s win against South Africa last year and against Afghanistan in the previous match.

Most wickets for Afghanistan in ODI WC
15 - Mohammad Nabi*
14 - Dawlat Zadran
11 - Rashid Khan
10 - Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Most wickets by spinners in a World Cup match
14 - KEN vs SL, Nairobi, 2003
14 - CAN vs ZIM, Nagpur, 2011
13 - ENG vs AFG, Delhi, 2023*

Most wickets for Afghan spinners in a WC innings
8 vs ENG, Delhi, 2023*
6 vs SL, Cardiff, 2019
5 vs IND, Southampton, 2019
5 vs PAK, Leeds, 2019

- This is the first time England have lost 8 wickets to spin in a WC match.

Best bowling figures for Afghanistan in World Cups
4/30 - Mohammad Nabi vs SL, Cardiff, 2019
4/38 - Shapoor Zadran vs SCO, Dunedin, 2015
3/29 - Dawlat Zadran vs SCO, Dunedin, 2015
3/37 - Rashid Khan vs ENG, Delhi, 2023*

- In their last meeting in Manchester in 2019, Rashid recorded the most expensive bowling returns in World Cup history (0/110 in 9 overs)

The track looked fairly good for batting and it still wasn't going to be easy defending against a powerful English batting lineup. They needed to start off well with the ball and that's exactly what they did. Farooqi trapped Bairstow LBW early and Root's abysmal record in powerplays continued as he was castled by Mujeeb. After being rocked by two early wickets, Brook and Malan looked to rebuild but it was Nabi's experience and guile that got the better of Malan as he was out caught at short cover after pushing at a delivery that Nabi got to hold. In what was a true effort, it was Naveen that contributed next with a beauty to get rid of the skipper Buttler. That left England reeling at 91/4 and while Brook continued to battle at one end, wickets kept tumbling at the other. Brook's vigil was put to an end by Mujeeb and that was pretty much where the game slipped out of England's grasp. It took Afghanistan a little while to complete the job but they did so to inflict an upset for the ages. Mind you, it wasn't just any win too, they dominated England with both bat and ball and the margin of victory was a convincing 69 runs.

21:30 Local Time, 16:00 GMT, 21:30 IST: A historic day for Afghanistan cricket, they've beaten one of the favourites of the tournament to register only their second win in World Cups. A rude awakening for the defending champions who were strikingly poor today with both bat and ball but take nothing away from Afghanistan, they well and truly earned this win. A complete team effort and they've got every reason to celebrate. It was Gurbaz that set the tone after Afghanistan were slotted into bat first, his 80 did more than just giving Afghanistan a flying start with the bat. It reaffirmed Afghanistan's belief that they could come out here and compete against a champion side like England. They might've lost their way for a bit in the middle overs but they were quick to pull up their socks and dragged themselves back on track. There were invaluable contributions down the order and that got them through to a very fighting 284.

Rashid Khan to Mark Wood, out Bowled!! It's all over and who other than Rashid Khan to hand Afghanistan a famous win! Flatter delivery on middle, Mark Wood cleared his front-leg and went for a big swipe across the line, he missed and the ball crashed into the stumps. Afghanistan are jubilant but not overly so, they realize it's a big win but there's a long road ahead and by the looks of it, they have their sights set on a bigger prize. Mark Wood b Rashid Khan 18(22) [4s-3]

Rashid Khan to Mark Wood, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!

Rashid Khan to Topley, 1 run, flatter delivery on middle, Topley presses back and heaved it away towards wide long-on

Rashid Khan to Mark Wood, 1 run, googly on a length and turning into middle, Mark Wood backed away to make room and slapped it out towards deep point

England need 72 from 60 balls, Afghanistan need 1 wicket to win

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Topley, FOUR, three in a row for Topley! Afghanistan need to focus here, the job isn't quite done yet. Farooqi went full and just outside off, just undercooked the yorker and Topley just carved it through extra-cover after clearing his front-leg

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Topley, FOUR, more runs! Short of a length on middle, Topley pressed back and flat-batted this straight back past his partner at the other end, he struck that well and mid-on had no chance

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Topley, FOUR, golden runs for England, full and angling into the batter, Topley made room and hacked at it, got a thick inside edge that ran away past the diving keeper

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Mark Wood, 1 run, length delivery on middle, Mark Wood closed the face too early as he looked to clip it into the leg-side, it lobbed up towards short mid-wicket off the leading edge but there was no one there

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Topley, 1 run, nails the yorker on off-stump and Topley digs it out towards deep point, 200 up for England

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Topley, no run, oh that was close! Full and angling into off-stump from round the wicket, Topley just hung his bat out at it in front of his stumps and it just about beat off-stump by a whisker

Now Farooqi has a chance to complete the job himself