England vs Afghanistan, Eng vs Afg: Skipper Eoin Morgan’s record-breaking knock powered England to a comprehensive 150-run win against Afghanistan in World Cup at Manchester on Tuesday. Chasing a mammoth 398, set by England with the help of Morgan’s 71-ball-148, Afghanistan could manage to score just 247/8, conceding an easy win to the hosts. Hashmatullah Shahidi was the top scorer for Afghanistan with 76 off 100 balls. For England, Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid bagged three wickets each.
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Electing to bat, England got off to a slow start and they lost James Vince (26) at the score of 44 in the tenth over. Bairstow and Root then kept the hosts going. Gulbadin Naib took a stunning return catch to dismiss Bairstow when he was ten runs short of his century giving England second blow at the score of 164 in the 30th over. It was here when Morgan joined Root and set the Manchester ground on fire with big hits that took England to 397/6. He was in devastating form, hammering 17 sixes and four boundaries during his whirlwind innings.
Teams:
England (From): Jonny Bairstow, James Vince, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Moeen Ali, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson
Afghanistan (From): Hazratullah Zazai, Noor Ali Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Ali Khil(w), Gulbadin Naib(c), Rashid Khan, Hamid Hassan, Aftab Alam, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Dawlat Zadran
Defending a huge total of 397, England restricted Afghanistan to 247/8 in 50 overs. Archer to Ikram Alikhil, no run, banged in, clips him on the top of the helmet! A final symbolic blow, England win by a massive 150-run margin - but Afghanistan are still standing.
With three wickets in hand, Afghanistan require over 54 runs per over now. Ikram and Rashid are on the crease and Jofra Archer is on the task. Afghanistan may not be able to reach the 398 but they kept England busy on the field. 32 sixes have been hit so far in the match!
English fast bowler Mark Wood got his second wicket as he bowled Najeebullah Zadran for 15 taking Afghans score to 235/7 in 46.4 overs.
Afghanistan's highest scorer in the run chase of 398, Hashmatullah Shahidi got bowled by none other than Jofra Archer for 78 off 100 balls. Afghans are now 234/6 in 46 overs. Afghanistan require another 164 runs with 4 wickets and 24 balls remaining which is next to impossible now.
Adil Rashid to Asghar Afghan and out! Caught by Joe Root the first slip. Asghar Afghan is gone for 44 off 48. He hit three 4s and two 6s. Afghans are 198/4 in 41 overs. Mohammad Nabi and Hashmatullah on the crease.
Chasing a mammoth total of 398, Afghan batsman Hashmatullah completed his half-century in 66 balls. His knock includes 3 fours and 2 sixes taking Afghanistan score to 176/3 in 35 overs. Afghan Asgar is also on the crease making 34 off 35 balls.
England spinner Rashid to Rahmat Shah and it's OUT, finds deep midwicket with possibly the easiest ball he's faced today. Dirty tossed up full toss just outside off. He's looked to club this over the leg side boundaries and managed to get it off the inside part of that bat to fine that fielder. Afghanistan 104/3 * in 25 overs. Rahmat Shah made 46 off 74 balls with three 4s and one 6.
Afghanistan 102/2 in 24.0 with current run rate is 4.25 and required run rate crosses 11.38. Afghanistan still need 296 runs. Rahmat Shah is playing on 46 off 72 and Hashmatullah is unbeaten18 off 40.
Afghan culture is full of colours and their dance is one of them. Have a look!
Mark Wood to Gulbadin Naib and he's OUT. Gulbadin top-edges a pull... and Buttler takes an excellent running catch! Short and cramped for room, 147kph/92mph and looping up as the captain continued to attack, the ball ended up somewhere near short fine leg but Buttler snared it safely diving full length to give Wood a wicket in his opening over! Naib goes for 37 off 28 balls with 4 fours and 1 six. Afghanistan now 54/2 in 12.1 overs.
Gulbadin Naib and Rahmat Shah are taking Afghanistan slowly yet steadily towards the mammoth target of 398. They are 47/1 in first 10 overs. Gulbadin is on 36 off 24 balls and Rahmat is 10 off 29 balls. Both are eying a big partnership.
Chasing a huge total of 398 runs, Afghanistan have had a slow start but skipper Gulbadin Naib smashed some briliant shots off Jofra Archer.
Noor Ali Zadran bowled by none other than Jofra Archer in his second delivery. Afghanistan are now 4/1 in 1.2 overs. Rahmat Shah walks in to chase the target of 398.
Riding on Eoin Morgan's 148 and Joe Root's 88 and Jonny Bairstow's 90, England managed to put a mammoth total of 397/6 in 50 overs. Moeen Ali also chipped in with quick 9-ball 31. This is the highest total in World Cup 2019 so far.
Rashid Khan concedes 110 runs in 9 overs. Rashid Khan equals Jason Holder for the most expensive spell in a World Cup and now the most expensive spell by an Afghanistan bowler. Gulbadin Naib had it at 101 before this. Already the worst figures for a spinner in a World Cup.
After a fiery knock from Morgan Jose Buttler got out for just 2 runs. Dawlat Zadran to Buttler, out Caught by Nabi!! A rush of wickets for Afghanistan towards the end - the back of the hand slower ball from Zadran, no pace for Buttler to work with - set himself up for the shovel and mistimed it badly - so badly that it lobbed into the hands of Nabi at mid-off. No real celebrations in the Afghan camp - they have been on a hiding to nothing.
Eoin Morgan finally got out for 148 off just 67 balls with 17 sixes. It's a record. No batsman has ever hit those many sixes in an ODI match. Kudos Morgan!
Gulbadin Naib to Joe Root, out Caught by Rahmat!! Root c Rahmat b Naib 88(82) with 5 fours and 1 six. Root has already hit two centuries so far in the World Cup.
Morgan has hit 14 sixes in his 129 run knock so far. Marching towards something amazing.
England captain Eoin Morgan reached his ton off just 57 balls. Rashid Khan to Morgan, SIX runs, the fourth-fastest World Cup century! What a brute of an innings by Eoin Morgan. Unbelievable hitting. He hit 11 sixes in his 101.
Morgan has reached 80 in just 47 balls with 8 sixes and just 3 fours.
Rashid Khan to Morgan, FOUR, oh that's a poor effort by Dawlat! Morgan attempts to slog-sweep with the turn, lots of height, not a lot of distance, and Zadran drops it at deep mid-wicket to allow a boundary.
Look at his staggering numbers!
Gulbadin Nabi to Joe Root, 1 run, shortish on the thigh, tucked to backward square leg, a single - and that's his 5th ODI fifty in the last six innings. 33rd ODI fifty overall.
Gulbadin Naib took a stunning return catch to dismiss Jonny Bairstow when he was ten runs short of his century giving England second blow after a solid 120-run stand for the second wicket. Gulbadin struck in the 30th over to get rid of Bairstow when the score was 164. Bairstow's knock was studded with three sixes and eight boundaries.
Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root have kept Afghanistan bowlers at bay. The duo have taken England past the 150-run mark. Bairstow is inching close to his century.
With Jonny Bairstow 74 (79) and Joe Root 37 (40) are on the crease, England are 139/1 after 25 overs. It has been a tough time for Afghanistan in the fielding so far.
Jonny Bairstow has built his innings slowly and reached his 50 off 61 balls. England are 106/1 in 20 overs.
Having seen England partnership growing, Afghanistan brought Rashid Khan into the attack. Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root have built 50-run partnership. England are 102/1 in 20 overs.
13.5 over: Rahmat Shah to Bairstow, SIX runs, pumped straight! Full and flat just outside off. Bairstow to the pitch quickly, helped by the flatter trajectory too, and a nice, sweet hit - about 85 metres.
Dawlat Zadran to James Vince, out Caught by Mujeeb!! Nabi can breathe easy now - that dropped catch hasn't cost his team a lot, another impressive start from Vince, but he can't convert it into a bigger knock. A very well directed short ball from Zadran, climbing onto the batsman from a length, Vince was trying to pull it off the front-foot, was clearly rushed on the pull and all he managed was a feeble top-edge. James Vince goes for 26 off 31 balls with 3 fours.
Dawlat Zadran to Vince, 2 runs, misjudged at deep square! Vince survives. A mistimed pull, sliced right off the low part of the bat. Hangs invitingly up for Nabi who seems to have thought this was hit harder - he runs along the perimeter rather than in. It's too late by the time he realises. The ball plonks into the turf to his left.
With spin bowling brought into the attack in the third over only, England batters are taking their time before taking off. Vince and Bairstow are showing some patience with the bat. Let's see how do they proceed ahead.
Time for the National Anthems! The two teams make their way out to the middle. Afghanistan will sing their first and then it will be England's turn.
Changes in playing XIs: Vince and Moeen Ali come in for England, while Afghanistan bring in Dawlat Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
"We would have batted first as well, looks a good wicket, slightly Asian conditions. We are disappointed with our batting, have not even played 40 overs, we have a good chance to restrict them to a good defendable score. Three changes for us, Dawlat, Najibullah and Mujeeb are playing - Aftab, Zazai and Hamid are not playing. Because of the wicket, we are going in with just one seamer."
England won the toss and decided to bat first against Afghanistan here at Manchester. England have made two changes in the squad. Eoin Morgan is fit and leading England.