Winning the toss and electing to bat first at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore critics pondered if Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi made the right choice considering the fact that dew factor bowling second by the fact that England could not defend their huge total of 352 runs against Australia in their previous game at the same venue, but yesterday they could not reach what boiled down to be an achievable target chasing Afghanistan’s 326 that paid off on a masterly innings of 177 by opening batsman Ibrahim Zadran that knocked out Jos Butler’s team out of the Champions Trophy despite Joe Root’s fighting 120, but which came close but not so close to doing it for England to going down in a nail biting absolute humdinger.
Sad from an England point of view that they mainly lost due to their lack of concentration for 20 minutes whilst fielding because of the desperation that crept in by the injury to their premier bowler, Mark Wood.
Batting first, Afghanistan lost Rahmanullah Gubraz, Sadiqullah Atal, and Rahamat Shah in the power play overs to Jofra Archer, hence, the early assessment was Afghanistan on their way home in this competition.
England fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood exposed the top order weakness of Afghanistan against the harder new ball.
In the 8th over, the brittle knee of Mark Wood gave trouble, and he limped off like John Wayne off the field, and the English bowling lost its rhythm with skipper Jos Buttler desperate for bowling options.
Hashmatullah Shahidi, the Afghanistan captain, walked into bat to join he whom was to become the star of the day, Ibrahim Zadran with Afghanistan on 37 for 3 wickets.
Batting on this pitch, the best we have seen in this tournament so far was settled, and Ibrahim Zadran and Hashmatullah stitched a partnership of 103 runs for the fourt wicket.
What a recovery as the Afghanistan duo played exquisite strokes whilst proving to the world that they are not a 20 over team, but they belong to longer format as well. Hashmatullah departed for 40, being the only victim of England’s premium leg spinner Adil Rashid and Afghanistan were 140 for 4 wickets.
Azmatullah Omarzai joins the party with England under a cloud with limited bowling options due to the absence of Mark Wood off the field in the face of a superlative batting display by Zadran built partnership number two taking the score past the 200 mark with Ibrahim Zadran reaching a well compiled century and Omarzai 41, before the latter was dismissed by fresh legs Jamie Overton who replaced seamer Chase rested in the bench with a toe injury.
After 40 overs Afghanistan were 212 for 5 wickets, then carnage number three of Afghan talent was displayed by Zadran and Mohammad Nabi who struck a cameo 40 off 24 sending 3 to the stands and 2 to the ropes.
Despite the return of a limping Mark Wood back to the fold to complete his quota and the introduction of Jofra Archer for his second spell, the Afghan pair thumped another century partnership of 110 runs in the last ten overs with Nabi putting the English attack to the sword and Ibrahim Zadran scoring his career best of 177 runs from146 deliveries pounding 12 boundaries and 6 over the ropes as Afghanistan ended session one on a high with relatively a defendable total of 325 runs for 7 wickets despite the envisaged dew factor.
Archer 3 for 64, Wood wicket less for 50 , Overton 1 for 72, Adil Rashid 1 for 60, Joe Root none for 47, and Liam Livingston 2 for 28 gave the impression that batting was a pleasure on this pitch hence, England experts stated they have the talent to hunt it down.
To stay alive in the competition, England needed 326 runs and they envisaged the dew as an advantageous factor.
Salt added Salt to his wound bowled by a rare delivery that kept low from seamer Omarzai, whilst Jamie Smith became Mohammad Nabi’s first victim caught by Omarzai guilty of playing an audacious stroke too early in his innings and England openers let the side down yet again, a similar scripting by the pair in their previous outing against Australia to rest in the hutch for the rest of the match with England on 2 for 30.
Duckett and Joe Root, in a 68-run partnership, did a repair job for the English, but Duckett fell victim to a Rashid Khan googly for 38 and England lost their 3rd wicket with the score on 98.
Harry Brook, who bats ahead of Jos Buttler, looked promising, but a leading edge off a Nabi off spinner saw him spooning an easy return catch to Nabi who needed no second invitation to gleefully accept the opportunity and secure his second wicket reducing England to 133 for 4 wickets.
Joe Root was to stand tall for England during the Afghan storm. Along with Butler, the pair took England past the 200 mark by the 34th over, but the England captain perished at the wrong time for 38 from an England point of view, but the right time from an Afghanistan standpoint caught by Rahmat Shah off Omarzai who was to emerge Afghanistan’s bowling sensation. England is still in the hunt on 216 for 5 wickets with a much better run rate than Afghanistan.
Liam Livingston, to state briefly, was expected to do what Glenn Maxwell does for Australia. But he was dismissed for 10 runs.
England then lost the true son of their soil who yielded to an Omarzai temptation to be caught by Gubraz when trying to improvise a short pitched delivery over the keeper’s head and the curtain fell for England on 287 for 7 wickets, Joe Root out for 120, a gutsy knock in a tempo of 111 balls packed with 11 boundaries and a six, and with it England’s hopes taking the dreaded nosedive towards defeat.
Overton, Archer, and Wood took England to 313 all out, losing by 9 runs and bowing out of another ICC trophy.
Omarzai, who was in contention for the man of the match award for his 5 for 58 that turned the tables in favour of Afghanistan and his 41 runs with the bat alongside Ibrahim Zadran 177 off 146 balls that ultimately won him the man of the match award for his great batting feat, will be remembered not as an overnight sensation, but as an absolute master craft.
