- In the 8th match of the Champions Trophy played in Lahore, Pakistan, Afghanistan defeated England (ENG vs AFG) by 8 runs and knocked them out of the entire tournament. Ibrahim scored a brilliant century for Afghanistan.
ENG vs AFG: Afghanistan has knocked out ‘England, the father of cricket’ from the tournament by defeating them by 8 runs in the eighth match of the Champions Trophy 2025. In this thrilling match played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan, Afghanistan (ENG vs AFG) defeated the British. Afghanistan won the toss in the thrilling match and decided to bat first thanks to the explosive innings of 177 runs by opener Ibrahim Zadran, who managed to score 325 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the stipulated 50 overs, in response to which the entire England team collapsed for 317 runs in 49.5 overs and lost the match by 8 runs.
Ibrahim’s century saved the day
Afghanistan (ENG vs AFG), who won the toss and elected to bat first, had a very bad start. Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz returned to the pavilion cheaply after scoring 6 runs off 15 balls. After this, Sediqullah Atal and Rahmat Shah were also out after scoring 4-4 runs, after which Afghanistan lost 3 wickets for 37 runs at one point. But Ibrahim Zadran held one end and played an important role in taking his team to a big score. Ibrahim, along with captain Hasmatullah Shahidi, took Afghanistan past 100, but the captain was also out on the ball of Adil Rashid at the score of 140.
The captain scored 40 runs off 67 balls. After this, ICC ODI Player of the Year 2024 Azmat Umarzai scored a quick 41 runs off 31 balls, and experienced all-rounder Mohammad Nabi played a brilliant innings of 40 runs off 24 balls. At the same time, Ibrahim Zadran scored the highest 177 runs off 146 balls, which included 12 fours and 6 sixes. With this, he has also become the batsman to score the highest individual score in the Champions Trophy. With the help of Ibrahim’s brilliant century, Afghanistan, batting first, scored 325 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 50 overs.
Joe Root hit a century
England’s start was also very bad while chasing the target of 326 runs given by Afghanistan (ENG vs AFG). English team’s opening batsman Phil Salt returned to the pavilion after scoring just 12 runs while chasing the big score, after which wicketkeeper-batsman Jamie Smith could score only 9 runs in 13 balls and thus England’s score at one time became 30 runs for two wickets. After this, Joe Root, one of the best batsmen of modern cricket, who came to bat at number four, started building a partnership with Ben Duckett, but by the time the score reached 98 runs, Ben Duckett also got out after scoring 38 runs in 42 balls.
After this, Harry Brook was also out after scoring 25 runs without doing anything special. Brook was the fourth batsman to be dismissed for England at a score of 140. After this, captain Josh Butler took charge along with Root and tried his best to take England (ENG vs AFG) closer to victory, but after the captain was out, other batsmen were also getting out one by one. However, Joe Root started handling one end and it was expected that Root would take England across the threshold of victory, but on a personal score of 120, he too was dismissed by Azmat, and the entire England innings was reduced to 317 runs.
England suffered a crushing defeat
Both England and Afghanistan (ENG vs AFG) were coming after losing their first match, after which it was very important for both to win this match to remain in the race for the semi-finals. But in the end, Afghanistan won by 8 runs and kept the hopes of semi-finals alive, while England is out of this tournament. In this match, Afghanistan (ENG vs AFG) Ibrahim Zadran (177) was given the Player of the Match for his excellent century, while Azmat played an important role in breaking the back of England by taking 5 wickets in bowling. At the same time, Mohammad Nabi also took two wickets along with a quick 40 runs and played an important role in Afghanistan’s victory.
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