Little did the defending champions England know that the ninth ranked Afghanistan team, who couldn't notch a single win in the 2019 ODI World Cup, will give them the shock of their life. Afghanistan staged one of the biggest turnarounds of the cricketing history to shock reigning champions England by 69 runs in their ODI World Cup 2019 match at the Arun Jaitley stadium on Sunday, October 15. This was Afghanistan's first ever win over England across formats as Jos Buttler's men continue their horror show in the ongoing ODI World Cup.
Meanwhile, former India's star batter Wasim Jaffer couldn't resist taking a playful jab at Michael Vaughan after England's massive upset. Jaffer humorously questioned Vaughan's reaction following his team's defeat.
Afghanistan displayed a dominant show over Jos Buttler's England in New Delhi, excelling in both batting and bowling to secure their first victory of the tournament. In contrast, England suffered their second loss in three games.
Opting to bat first, half-centuries by Rahmanullah Gurbaz (80) and Ikram Alikhil (58), complemented with valuable contributions from Ibrahim Zadran (28), Rashid Khan (23), and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (28), propelled Afghanistan to a competitive total of 284 runs.
In reply the English batter wilted under pressure as Afghanistan bowlers kept them in check from the word go.
From the outset, Afghanistan maintained control with back-to-back breakthroughs. But it was Afghanistan's spin troika of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who caused England's batting collapse.
Harry Brook (66) displayed resilience as the lone warrior for England, but Afghanistan's spinners were in some other mood on Sunday as they held the upper hand. Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan claimed three wickets each, while Mohammad Nabi secured two, leading Afghanistan to bundle out England for 215 runs, securing a convincing 69-run victory.
As England grappled with an unexpected defeat against Afghanistan, Jaffer took this opportunity to troll Vaughan. Jaffer playfully teased Michael Vaughan, humorously referencing a clip featuring the renowned social media personality Hasbulla.
Here's Jaffer's Twitter post
The shock defeat against Afghanistan left English skipper Jos Buttler heartbroken, gutted and shattered. Buttler while ruing England's embarrassing loss said you got to let these defeats hurt.
“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,” Buttler said.
“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,” the gutted Buttler added.
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