By admin 
Afghanistan secured a thrilling 8-run victory over England, knocking them out of the Champions Trophy. Ibrahim Zadran’s brilliant 177 and Azmatullah Omarzai’s 5-wicket haul (5/58) overshadowed Joe Root’s valiant century (120), as Afghanistan triumphed in a nail-biting match on Wednesday.
With this loss, England remain winless after two matches. They will face South Africa in their final Group B match, while Afghanistan now has two points and must beat Australia in their last group match to keep their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals alive.
England’s chase faltered early as Phil Salt and Jamie Smith were dismissed quickly, leaving them at 30 for 2. Eventually, they were all out for 317, with a ball to spare, as Omarzai struck at crucial moments.
Root (120 off 111 balls, 11×4, 1×6) steadied England’s innings with two important partnerships. First, he added 68 runs with Ben Duckett (38), who was dropped on 29, for the third wicket. Then, Root put on 83 runs with captain Jos Buttler for the fifth wicket. Although these partnerships didn’t explode, they kept England in the hunt, ensuring they stayed close to the required run rate.
However, when Duckett and Buttler were dismissed, England’s chase crumbled. Root, despite his composed innings, had to shoulder the entire burden. His innings was clever, with a strike rate close to 100, but it lacked the aggression he is known for. He displayed his finesse with a reverse sweep for four off wrist-spinner Noor Ahmad and a scooped six off pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Root brought up his 17th ODI century with a single off Rashid Khan, but soon after, his ramp shot off Omarzai was caught by keeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz, ending his stay at the crease.
England did have some late resistance from Jamie Overton (32 off 28 balls), who added 54 runs for the seventh wicket. But he too fell to Omarzai, marking the end of England’s tournament run.
Earlier, Afghanistan had posted a challenging total of 325 for 7, thanks to Zadran’s exceptional knock. His 177 came off 146 balls and included 12 fours and 6 sixes. He had solid support from captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (40 off 67 balls) with whom he added 103 runs for the fourth wicket. Zadran also partnered with Azmatullah Omarzai (41 off 31 balls) to add 72 runs for the fifth wicket, and later put on 111 runs for the sixth wicket with Mohammad Nabi (40 off 24 balls).
Afghanistan’s start, however, was rocky as they struggled early after choosing to bat. Jofra Archer (3/64) caused them significant problems, removing Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediquallah Atal, and Rahmat Shah to reduce Afghanistan to 37 for 3 within the first 10 overs.
Zadran began the recovery with Shahidi and, after reaching 50 off 65 balls, started to accelerate, smashing a couple of boundaries off Jamie Overton. Shahidi was dismissed trying a reverse sweep off Rashid, but Zadran continued to dominate with Omarzai.
England had further issues with pacer Mark Wood, who, due to a knee injury, bowled only eight overs despite taking a break during the Afghan innings.
Zadran, after completing his sixth ODI hundred off 106 balls, shifted gears. He blasted Overton for 6, 4, 4 in one over and soon followed it up by taking Archer for 6, 4, 4, 4 to bring up his second career 150. He continued to pile on the runs alongside Nabi, and in the final 10 overs, Afghanistan scored 113 runs as England’s bowlers faltered.
Zadran was eventually dismissed by Liam Livingstone in the final over, but by then, Afghanistan had posted a total too big for England to chase down.
Gill Bikram Singh