Rahmanullah Gurbaz blazed away to a 57-ball 80 (eight fours, four sixes) after Jos Buttler opted to field. However, he was the third batter to be dismissed as Afghanistan slid from 114-0 to 122-3.

At 190-6, England seemed to have clawed their way back, but Ikram Alikhil (58 in 66 balls), Rashid Khan (23 in 22), and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (28 in 16) took Afghanistan to 284, their second-highest World Cup score.

The England innings never got going. While eight of their batters reached double figures, Dawid Malan (32) and Harry Brook (66 in 61 balls) were the only ones to go past 20. And while there were eight partnerships more than 15 and seven in excess of 20, the third-wicket stand of 35 between Malan and Brook remained their highest.

Afghanistan opened bowling with Mujeeb, who complemented his cameo with 3-51 to be named Player of the Match. Mujeeb produced two peaches to bowl Joe Root and Chris Woakes, and ended England’s hopes when he had Brook caught behind.

Before that, Fazalhaq Farooqi (1-50), Mujeeb’s new-ball partner, had pinned Jonny Bairstow leg-before for a duck, while Naveen-ul-Haq (1-44) clean bowled Jos Buttler. Mohammad Nabi (6-0-16-2), economical as ever, took out two key wickets, of Malan and Sam Curran.

Rashid (3-37), the biggest name in Afghan cricket, was introduced late into the attack, as the fifth bowler. He trapped Liam Livingstone leg-before, and finished things off by taking the last two wickets.

This was Afghanistan’s second win at the World Cup, after their triumph over Scotland in the 2015 edition. That it came against the defending champions makes it even more remarkable.

Watch ENG v AFG, World Cup 2023 highlights:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ICC (@icc)