Afghanistan got off to a solid start with the bat as Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran (28 off 48) added 114 for the first wicket. Gurbaz was in excellent hitting form, striking eight fours and four sixes. The opening partnership was broken when Ibrahim was caught at short mid-wicket off Adil Rashid’s bowling. Afghanistan then suffered a mini-batting collapse and slumped to 190/6.
Rahmat Shah (3) was stumped off Adil, while Gurbaz was run out following a horrible mix-up with skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi. The set batter was furious as he walked back. Azmatullah Omarzai then miscued a lofted hit off Liam Livingstone to long-off. Soon, Shahidi was cleaned up by Joe Root for 14, while Nabi (9) perished to Mark Wood.
Afghanistan’s lower order, though, led a commendable fightback for the team. Ikram Alikhil scored a crucial 58 off 66 balls, frustrating the England bowlers. Rashid (23 off 22) and Mujeeb (28 off 16) also chipped in with vital contributions to lift Afghanistan past the 280-run mark.
Chasing 285, England never got into any kind of position to push for a win as Afghanistan’s bowling was clinical. Fazalhaq Farooqi trapped Jonny Bairstow (2) leg before, while Root (11) was knocked over by Mujeeb. Dawid Malan looked good during his 32 before chipping a tossed up delivery from Nabi to short extra cover.
England’s hopes suffered a major setback when Naveen-ul-Haq cleaned up Jos Buttler (9) with a smart delivery that nipped back from outside off as the English skipper attempted a booming drive. Liam Livingstone (10) was then trapped lbw by Rashid, while Nabi and Mujeeb accounted for Sam Curran (10) and Chris Woakes (9) respectively.
Mujeeb ended Brook’s resistance with a carrom ball that the set batter could only nick to the keeper. Fittingly, Rashid completed the formalities for Afghanistan, having Adil (20) caught at slip and then knocking over Wood (18) with a flat delivery on middle.
--By A Cricket Correspondent
