Afghanistan vs England, ODI, 8th Match, Group B, February 26, 2025 - Match Info

Only five teams remain in the fray! This started off as an 8 team event. England is the latest casualty. Buttler and his men would be hurting. It must be feeling England of pre 2015 when their ICC event performances weren't that great. But the 2019 WC champions would find this as a tough pill to swallow. They finished 7th on the table in the 2023 WC. And now have been knocked out here. They scored 300 in both the games but couldn't defend once and failed to chase it tonight. Fairy tales and Afghanistan have been synonymous for some time. And they have added another fable to it. They will be facing the mighty Aussies next and it promises to be a fascinating affair as well. For the moment Kabul will reverberate with the names of Ibrahim Zadran and Azmatullah. Our energies were well spent today. We will be back soon with more cricketing action. Our team of Akshay Maanay, Abhinav Guha, Venky and Kumar Abhisekh Das says ta ta ta!

Hashmatullah Shahidi: As a team we are happy. Our nation will be happy with this win. Moving on to the next game. We beat them first time in 2023. We are improving day by day. Today was a tense game. We controlled it well. I am happy with the result. Zadran is a talented guy. We were three down at the beginning and the pressure was on. The partnership between me and him was crucial. One of the best ODI knocks that I have seen. Azmat played a good knock. Played with positive intent. He bowled crucial overs as well. We have talented youngsters and some senior guys. Everyone knows their role. Everyone is doing good. Hopefully, we will take the momentum to the game versus Australia. It will give us confidence but it will be a new day. That game will decide who will go to the semis. We will do what is good for us on that day.

Jos Buttler: Disappointing to be knocked out of the tournament early. We had our chances in the game and we didn't take them. Root played an unbelievable innings and we needed one of the top six batters to stay with him. The last 10 overs got away from us a bit. Credit to Ibrahim, he played a fantastic innings. 113 off the last 10 pushed them up to a very good score on that pitch. Unfortunately in his 4th over he (Wood) felt his knee, credit to him for bowling through the pain and showing a lot of character. It was difficult (in the death overs with Wood injured and Root bowling the 47th over), Livi was also off the field but credit to him for coming back. He (Root) has been a brilliant player in all formats and showed us the way to handle the pressure. His ODI record is fantastic. If I knew I wouldn't be playing the way I am (referring to his bad form), being one of the best players in the world it is disappointing when you don't perform. Don't want to make any emotional decisions.

Ibrahim Zadran | Player of the Match: I was expecting that, I wanted to grab one good catch for the team. Whenever I grabbed it (the winning catch), that feeling was great. It means a lot to me, as much as you work hard, I was having trust on myself and I wanted to keep on batting. That 177 is a special moment for me. We have played here last time in Asia Cup, so I had the idea. I wanted to take time and play proper cricketing shots and that worked for me so I’m happy. When you win a game, it gives you a lot of energy and it gives you confidence. We will try to play even better play in the next game. We will be playing against Australia so we will try to do as less mistakes as possible. We will have a plan and do our best.

Stats by Deepu Narayanan \n \nSixth consecutive defeat for England in ODIs - the first time they have lost as many since September 2009 \n \nBest figures for Afghanistan in ICC ODI tournaments \n5/58 Azmatullah Omarzai vs Eng Lahore CT 2025 \n4/30 Mohd Nabi vs SL Cardiff WC 2019 \n4/34 Fazalhaq Farooqi vs SL Pune WC 2023 \n4/34 Shapoor Zadran vs Scu Dunedin WC 2015 \n \nFive-fers by an Afghanistan seamer in ODIs \n6/43 Gulbadin Naib vs Ire Belfast 2019 \n5/45 Hamid Hassan vs UAE Dubai 2014 \n5/58 Azmatullah Omarzai vs Eng Lahore 2025 \n \nHighest aggregate in a Champions Trophy game \n707 Eng (351/8) vs Aus (356/5) Lahore 2025 \n643 Ind (321/6) vs SL (322/3) The Oval 2017 \n642 Afg (325/7) vs Eng (317) Lahore 2025 \n636 Ind (331/7) vs SA (305) Cardiff 2013 \n \nClosest margin of wins in Champions Trophy (by runs) \n5 Ind vs Eng Edgbaston 2013 \n8 Afg vs Eng Lahore 2025 \n10 Ind vs SA Colombo RPS 2002 \n10 WI vs Aus Mumbai BS 2006 \n10 Eng vs NZ Cardiff 2013

22:18 Local Time, 17:18 GMT, 22:48 IST: Afghanistan have picked up their first win. Pakistan, Bangladesh and now England are out of CT 2025. Azmatullah was awarded the ICC ODI Player of the Year and you know why! He turned the game around with the bat first and then struck five blows to dwarf Root's ton. Afghanistan and their big runs in ICC events continue. They would be chuffed with this win. Earlier, Zadran played one of the knocks of the Champions Trophy across all editions with a massive 177. He single-handedly gave Afghanistan 325 to play with. England didn't start well. But Root and Duckett batted well to keep them in touch with the rate. But Duckett fell. Brook and Buttler got starts but didn't convert. Those wickets got Afghanistan back in the game. Then when Root departed after a fine hundred, Archer came in and hit some boundaries. It seemed England had the edge but Overton played a poor shot to holed out at long-on. Post that Farooqi and Azmatullah managed to squeeze out the win. Azmat was carried on Naveed Zadran's shoulder as he almost carried his team's bowling on his able shoulders throughout the chase. This was an epic game and am sure it won't be forgotten for a long time to come. They were supposed to be the giant killers but they are doing this at regular intervals at the top level. Presentations coming up..

49.5Azmatullah to Adil Rashid, out Caught by Ibrahim Zadran!! Fittingly Zadran takes it and the bowler is Azmatullah - the two heroes of the day combining. England are eliminated. They defeated this team in the 2023 World Cup and have once again triumphed over them. The Blues of Afghanistan have been too hot to handle for men in blue from England. Zadran set it up with the bat for the Afghan team and Azmat has put the finishing touches with a fifer, not to forget his cameo with the bat. Afghanistan stay afloat. Coming to the wicket: It was the slower ball and Rashid could not generate enough power to clear long-off, Zadran runs to his right and takes a well-judged catch. Adil Rashid c Ibrahim Zadran b Azmatullah 5(7)

Azmatullah to Adil Rashid, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

49.4 Azmatullah to Mark Wood, 1 run, very full, driven down to long-off for a single. 9 needed off 2 balls now. That was full, speared in and Mark Wood limps down to the other end

49.3 Azmatullah to Adil Rashid, 1 run, lands short of the man at long-off! Was a back of a length delivery, Adil Rashid got a leading edge and the ball landed short of the man at long-off. The fielder came running in but landed short

49.2 Azmatullah to Mark Wood, 1 run, gets a single down to deep cover. Backed away and slapped it down to deep cover. 11 needed off 4 balls. Azmatullah to hold his nerves?

49.1Azmatullah to Adil Rashid, 1 run, gets it down to long-off for a single as that was outside off. Wood would be on strike now and he's struggling with his injury. It would be difficult for him to take twos

Fazalhaq Farooqi had gone off after bowling that over but the umpires called him back.

48.6 Fazalhaq Farooqi to Mark Wood, no run, 13 remains for the final over. Short of a length ball, stabbed down to short third man. Mark Wood wanted a single but Adil Rashid I don't think was ever interested. Excellent over from Fazalhaq Farooqi as he only gave away 3 runs and picked up the wicket of Archer

48.5Fazalhaq Farooqi to Jofra Archer, out Caught by Nabi!! The crowd goes berserk. They are going bonkers. Was a slower length delivery, outside off, the batter wanted to slog it across the line and skied it upwards. The man at long-on circled under it and took it easily. Nabi wouldn't have dropped it. 13 still needed now. The ball again sat into the deck and Jofra Archer failed to infuse power into the shot. Fazalhaq Farooqi has picked up his first wicket. Jofra Archer c Nabi b Fazalhaq Farooqi 14(8) [4s-2]

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Jofra Archer, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

48.4 Fazalhaq Farooqi to Adil Rashid, 1 run, slower short ball, Adil Rashid steers the ball down to short third man and scampers off. The throw came in at the batter's end but Jofra Archer had made it. Single added to the tally

48.3 Fazalhaq Farooqi to Jofra Archer, 1 run, 14 needed off 9 balls. Very full, wide, outside off, stabs the ball down to deep cover. Only a single. Only two runs off the over so far