Afghanistan delivered the first upset of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on Sunday, defeating defending champions England by 69 runs at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
A Thrilling Showdown
After winning the toss and requesting Afghanistan to bat first, England fell short of chasing the target and collapsed for 215 runs in front of Afghanistan’s three spinners. Thanks to opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s blazing 80 runs off 57 balls and wicketkeeper Ikram Alikhil’s fifty, Afghanistan had given England a target of 285 runs.
Gurbaz’s Heroics and a Spin Masterclass
Gurbaz brought up his fifty rapidly, but they lost wickets as leg-spinner Adil Rashid (3-42) dismissed Zadran and had Rahmat Shah stumped in his next over. Gurbaz looked well set for a World Cup century, but the 21-year-old was run out by substitute David Willey at midwicket when skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi called him for a risky run. Afghanistan’s spinners Rashid Khan (23) and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (28) contributed in a lower-order flourish that saw Afghanistan put up a competitive total and allowed their bowlers to go all-out against the England batters.
England’s Struggles
Despite having a strong lineup at the plate, England was dealt a setback right away when left-arm bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi dismissed opener Jonny Bairstow in the second over. Off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman bowled out Joe Root for 11 runs at that point, and Mohammad Nabi removed Dawid Malan for 32, signalling the start of Afghanistan’s spinners’ dominance.
Mujeeb’s Heroics
Star leg-spinner Rashid Khan added to England’s woes by dismissing Liam Livingstone and Adil Rashid. Harry Brook put up a resistance with his 66-run innings, but fell to Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the 35th over to send England reeling at 169-8. Mujeeb deservedly picked up the player of the match award.
Historic Moment for Afghanistan
“Very proud moment to be here in the World Cup and beating the champions, it’s a great achievement for the whole region. I’m so happy with this performance,” Mujeeb said. “As spinners, it’s hard to bowl in the powerplay, but I’ve been working in the nets to be as consistent as possible… We knew dew would be a factor.”
England’s Reaction and Standings
England lost the tournament’s opening match against New Zealand by nine wickets but beat Bangladesh by 137 runs. Their captain Buttler said it was “a tough loss to take” but congratulated Afghanistan. “They outplayed us today. We were not at the level we wanted to be with the ball and the bat,” Buttler said. England is fifth in the group standings with one win from three matches, one place ahead of Afghanistan. Afghanistan suffered heavy losses in both their matches before this victory. They lost to Bangladesh by six wickets and then to hosts India by eight wickets.
Afghanistan came into the match having lost 16 of their last 17 World Cup games, their only victory coming against Scotland in 2015.
Cricketing History Rewritten
On Sunday, October 15, Afghanistan made history by defeating England in their third match of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. Before defeating the current world champions by 69 runs and opening their winning record, the Afghans were going winless in the competition.
Twitter’s Verdict
The defeat of the 2019 winners has been titled as the biggest upset in the World Cup by fans on Twitter.
