England’s night of horror with the ball and blunders with the bat finished with a victory against Afghanistan and a solid start to their T20 World Cup campaign. Mark Wood had the quickest average speed in tournament history, but their scoring was far more plodding as they crawled to a winning score of 113 with 11 balls and five wickets remaining.
Sam Curran 1st English Player to take 5 wickets in T20Is
Sam Curran became the first English player to take five wickets in a T20 international as he destroyed Afghanistan’s lower order at the end of their innings, collecting four wickets for nil runs in six deliveries over two overs to finish with the dream figures of five wickets for 10 runs, as result England beat Afghanistan. In their last few overs, the Afghans instead found the self-destruct button, falling from 106 for five with three overs remaining to 112 all out with two balls unused.
Read Also: Black Caps win by 89 runs in Sydney as they demolished Australia demolished in T20 World Cup opener
“You want to be involved whenever you’re taking on those difficult problems,” Curran added. “There will be days when it doesn’t work out, but hopefully I can keep developing confidence and all the other bowlers around me can get confidence from that performance.” It was my first World Cup game, and knowing you’re going to play in a World Cup gives you that additional adrenaline when you get up.”
After successfully limiting Afghanistan’s scoring, the question was whether England’s response would be full-bore or just bore, and while they never appeared to be in real danger of defeat, they erred towards option two, not exactly the fireworks the crowd of 8,405, and 51,595 empty seats, had expected in Perth’s magnificent stadium.
Dawid Malan & Liam Livingstone gets the scoreboard kicking
Dawid Malan hit 30 off 18 balls, and when Liam Livingstone pushed the ball down the leg side for four in the 14th over, it was surprisingly their first boundary since the fifth. There must have been a temptation to attack such a low goal aggressively in order to increase their net run rate, but England appeared to think that the best choice was moderate agony for polyester rather than hell for leather.
Jos Buttler had been out for 18 before the end of the ninth over, Alex Hales had been dropped twice and caught once, and England was 59 for two. They were still on track for victory, but there won’t be many games in this competition when that type of score is anything other than a disaster. Their bowling had been excellent enough on this occasion to enable it.
England won the toss & Match
On a green wicket, England won the toss, grabbed the ball, and gained control. The bowlers then produced an exceptional exhibition of precision and discipline, as well as a near-impeccable performance in the field, to ensure that the Afghan innings never got pace. There was no early rush of wickets, but with run-scoring as sluggish as the bowling was at times electrifying, England quickly grabbed control.
Also Read: The King lives: Virat Kohli masterclass helps India beat Pakistan in MCG thriller
England won the toss, took the ball, and took command on a green wicket. The bowlers then displayed excellent precision and discipline, as well as a near-impeccable fielding effort, to ensure that the Afghan innings never gained momentum. There was no early wicket-taking blitz, but with run-scoring as slow as the bowling was at times explosive, England quickly took control.
England starts the WC Journey with the Victory in 1st Match
England celebrated as the batter looked bewildered, maybe having mistimed a blink and missed it all – he had to ask his fellow opener, Hazratullah Zazai, what had occurred before trudging off the field. Wood’s fastest delivery in the first over was recorded at 96mph, setting the tone for the rest of the evening as England beat Afghanistan. He worked hard on his variations, but they went to waste on a night when his slowest delivery clocked in at 88mph.
Meanwhile, England’s catching was spectacular, and they prepared a highlight clip of excellent exploits. Livingstone’s was the first and most impressive, running around to his right before jumping forward to eliminate Zazai.