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England captain Jos Buttler has said that his team shouldn’t look to move on quickly from the setback defeat to Afghanistan in World Cup 2023 which has come as a big blow to their campaign. This was the second defeat for the defending champions in three games and put them in danger of a group-stage exit.
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Batting first Afghanistan smashed 284 with Rahmanullah Gurbaz scoring 80 off 57 balls. In reply, England were bowled out for 215 to suffer a 69-run defeat.
“I think you’ve got to let these defeats hurt, There’s no point in just trying to move on very quickly, although you’ve got to do it as quick as you can,” Buttler said at the post-match presentations.
“But let it hurt for a bit, let’s reflect and work on the areas that we need to get better and we must show some real resilience. We’ve got a lot of character in the group, a lot of guys who’ve been through lots of good times and a few tough times as well. So we’ll show a lot of resilience and come back fighting.”
The 2019 World Cup winners are still to hit their straps having lost to New Zealand and Afghanistan so far. Buttler added that his team as a whole is not firing which has led to a poor start to the campaign.
“As a whole, we are not quite at the level that we’d like to be, and in World Cups and against good opposition, guys putting you under pressure, that’s where we need to be. So all of us, from everyone on the field and off it, will be working hard to put that right,” Buttler said.
Afghanistan scored 284 but it was seen as an under-par score at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Yet, England failed to chase down the target and Buttler credited the Afghan spinners for the match result.
Afghanistan vs England: Gurbaz, spinners script an upset for the ages for Afghans
Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan picked three wickets each to lead Afghanistan to a famous win, while Harry Brook was the only England batter to score a fifty.
“They are a really skilful attack. Obviously they have some fantastic spin bowlers, especially. Maybe the dew didn’t come in as much as we expected. The ball held a little bit and there was a little bit of indifferent bounce and they put us under lots of pressure,” he said.
“They bowled very dry. They bowled dead straight, keeping the stumps in play, and we weren’t quite good enough today.”
English (US)