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On Sunday, the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup truly came alive. And for the World Cup to come alive, something had to give. And that something, in this context, was the defending champions England enduring an embarrassing 69-run defeat to Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
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For a lot of people who witnessed this game, this defeat for England would have brought back the ghosts of a certain match in the 2011 World Cup, the last time India (co) hosted the ODI showpiece event.
On a fateful night of 2 March, 2011 in Bengaluru, Kevin O’Brien stole the show for Ireland as they saw off a fightback from the England bowlers to chase down 328, with three wickets to spare.
Only this time, there was no such fightback from England batters after they were set a target of 285 by Afghanistan on what was a rather good pitch to bat on.
On the contrary, for Afghanistan, this was a win for the ages.
Zadran-Gurbaz stand sets the platform
Had it not been for a century-run partnership between Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, the match could have gone either way. The duo forged 114 runs for the opening stand and began with so much aggression that at once, it felt as though the Afghans would post a total beyond 300 or even 350.
And remember, this is the same venue where South Africa had posted 428 against Sri Lanka nine days back, so having said that, anything could have been possible.
Gurbaz utilised the first powerplay to the fullest. He took on Chris Woakes and Reece Topley at the start of the innings, before hitting Sam Curran for two fours and a six in the ninth over.
The first four was slammed through the covers by Gurbaz, while for the second one, he clipped through the fine leg gap. More misery followed Sam Curran the very next ball, as Gurbaz clobbered it over the midwicket fence for a maximum.
To put it simply, Gurbaz was batting almost as though this match was a T20I. But, this is not the first time we have seen a 21-year-old steal the show at the major level of any cricket format. Just ask Yashasvi Jaiswal!
Really proud moment beating the defending champions 🏴. Great all around team performance 🇦🇫❤️
Congratulation to the whole nation#ENGvsAFG #WorldCup2023 pic.twitter.com/cnrEcHbuuu
— Rahmanullah Gurbaz (@RGurbaz_21) October 15, 2023
Gurbaz, who would hit as many as eight boundaries in the powerplay to eventually take Afghanistan to 100 in less than 13 overs, would bring up his fifty with a boundary, a four that he swept past square leg quite powerfully. For the youngster, this 33-ball fifty against the defending champions England is something that he would cherish for a long time.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim Zadran was largely playing the supporting role all this time, taking charge of rotating the strike and collecting a few boundaries here and there. Having said that, during their century-plus stand, all Ibrahim could manage were 28 runs before he was caught by Joe Root at short midwicket off Adil Rashid’s bowling in the 17th over.
However, none of this mattered much for Afghanistan at the time, since they had raced towards 114/0 in less than 20 overs.
Ikram Alikhil saves the day
Afghanistan are 152/4 in the 26th over. Enter Ikram Alikhil, an unlikely hero, to save Afghanistan from the blushes. After that fiery start from their openers, in almost no time, Afghanistan were in a spot of bother. Ikram, 23, knew how to deal with the situation.
He did not go for risky shots. Instead, for most of the match, Ikram dealt with singles, rotating strike with his partner in a bid to frustrate the opposition. He did find a boundary to get off the mark, racing past backward point four by accurately picking a short and wide delivery from Root in the 27th over.
Just a couple of overs later, Ikram would make Root pay for another short ball, pulling over deep midwicket for a six.
Ikram would get to his half-century with an attempted pull in the 47th over but eventually ended up getting a top-edge that flew over Jos Buttler towards fine leg, for a brace.
Alikhil was finally caught in the 48th over by Sam Curran at long-on off Reece Topley’s delivery.
Spinners rule the roost
One of the biggest strengths for Afghanistan in this World Cup is their depth of spinners. For a while now, it has been Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman who have been leading their spin department, and once again, it was the duo who dominated England.
Both Rashid (3/37) and Mujeeb (3/51) not only bowled economically but also would be the major reason for triggering an England collapse.
Rashid was brought into the attack in the 17th over, and struck in the 21st, trapping Liam Livingstone LBW.
Earlier, despite conceding a boundary to Jos Buttler, Rashid would continue bowling tight lines, something that would help him bowl dot balls and eventually put pressure on the opposition.
In the 39th over, Rashid would get his name same, Adil Rashid with a floated up delivery, on off. Adil Rashid went for the forward defence, but ended up getting an edge towards Mohammad Nabi at slip.
Salute you AFGHANISTAN 🇦🇫. You have pulled offff the biggest upset in WC cricket. If not in the history of the game. Respect. @rashidkhan_19 @Mujeeb_R88 #CWC2023 #ENGvsAFG pic.twitter.com/o59wpS6Sxc
— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) October 15, 2023
Rashid then went on to finish the game in the 41st, with Mark Wood failing in his attempted slog to allow Rashid to clean him up.
Mujeeb, too, was equally effective. After getting rid of Joe Root in the seventh over, Mujeeb would go on to dismiss Chris Woakes and Harry Brook in a span of just two overs between the 33rd and 35th.
One has got to feel for Brook, who finally turned up with a 61-ball 66 only to see his team collapsing at the other end.
There was no substantial partnership and that is what hurt England the most.
For Afghanistan, this win was about putting smiles on people’s faces back home, after a devastating earthquake hit the country for the third time in a week.
England, meanwhile, will have to go back to the drawing board, rectify their errors, and seek a quick turnaround against South Africa on Saturday (21 October).
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