New Delhi: Joe Root played a brilliant knock, scoring a century under challenging conditions, but it wasn’t enough to prevent England’s exit from the Champions Trophy after a surprising eight-run defeat to Afghanistan on Wednesday. Despite a massive 325/7 posted by Afghanistan, largely thanks to Ibrahim Zadran’s career-best 177, England fell short of the target, with Root’s 120 off 111 balls not enough to see them through.
Azmatullah Omarzai was the standout performer for Afghanistan, claiming impressive figures of 5 for 58 and taking the key wicket of Joe Root. Earlier, Ibrahim Zadran powered his way to 177 off 146 balls, while captain Hasmatullah Shahidi contributed with a steady 40 from 67 balls, helping Afghanistan recover from a difficult position at 37 for 3 in the ninth over.
Zadran played a pivotal role in building Afghanistan’s total, forging a 72-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Azmatullah Omarzai (41 off 31 balls) and a 111-run stand for the sixth wicket with Mohammad Nabi (40 off 24 balls).
Brief scores: Afghanistan 325/7 in 50 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 177, Hashmatullah Shahidi 40, Azmatullah Omarzai 41, Mohammad Nabi 40; Jofra Archer 3/64, Liam Livingstone 2/28).
England 317 all out in 49.5 overs (Ben Duckett 38, Joe Root 120, Jos Buttler 38, Jamie Overton 32; Azmatullah Omarzai 5/58, Mohammad Nabi 2/58).
