AFG vs ENG

What a riveting tournament this has been! Afghanistan will celebrate before they reconvene to take on Australia in a couple of days' time. But before that, we have our first dead-rubber of the Champions Trophy coming up tomorrow as hosts Pakistan face Bangladesh in Rawalpindi, where we hope the weather is much better than it was yesterday. Neither team can qualify but can Pakistan give their home fans some joy or will Bangladesh thwart those plans? Do join us to find out with our coverage commencing at 1 PM local time (1:30 PM IST) with the first ball to be bowled an hour later. For now, this is the troika of Lavil Saldanha, Arya Sekhar Chakraborty and Sooryanarayanan Sesha taking your leave. We hope you enjoyed this humdinger just as much as we did bringing it to you. Thank you so much for joining us and see you again tomorrow. Good night!

Aaaaaand breathe! Phew! Goodness me what is this team? Afghanistan just keep writing themselves into folklore and keep giving their many fans back home so much joy. Yet another red-letter day in the nation's cricket journey that continues to inspire. And they now have a serious shot at making the semifinals - a win over Australia will certainly take them through! They have every reason to believe, dream and turn it into reality!

As for England, it's another sorry, premature exit from an ICC ODI tournament. Their one-day transition continues to be a difficult one and surely, questions are bound to be asked potentially of Jos Buttler's job as captain as well. Brendon McCullum is yet to taste a win as coach in this format since taking over but what they can do now at best is play party-poopers when they face South Africa on Saturday. Their execution and game awareness has come under serious scrutiny and make no mistake, they have a lot of work to do on that front!

One of the game-changing moments today was the wicket of the in-form Ben Duckett. Here's how an inspired review got the job done for Afghanistan!👇

Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan captain): As a team we are happy and we know the entire nation will be happy. It tastes nice. Moving onto the next game. First time we beat them in the 2023 World Cup. I keep saying that we are improving day by day as a team. That's what we showed in the last couple of World Cups. Today it was a tense game but we controlled it really well. (On Ibrahim Zadran) He's absolutely brilliant and a talented guy. We were three down in the beginning and there was too much pressure. The partnership between me and Ibrahim was crucial. This was one of the best ODI innings I have ever seen. Azmat also played very well when I lost my wicket. He played with very good intent. He scored runs and with the ball under pressure, he bowled very well. (On Nabi) The beauty of our team is we have talented youngsters and at the same time we have some senior guys who are at the top level. Everyone knows their role. Everyone's doing good and hopefully we take this momentum with us for the next game against Australia and do well. It will give us a lot of confidence but at the same time it will be a new day for both teams. That game will decide who will go to the semifinal. We will focus on what we can control. What's good for us, we will try to do that.

Jos Buttler (England captain): Obviously really disappointing. Thought we had our chances. Another fantastic game of cricket but gutted to come out on the wrong side. Joe Root played an unbelievable innings. We wanted one of the top six batters to stay with him longer and take it deeper. Thought he and Overton put in a good partnership. Looked good to get over the line at the end but we lost too many wickets. They got away from us there in the last ten overs. Credit to Ibrahim, he played a fantastic innings as well. But if we look back and reflect, 113 off the last ten pushed them up to a score which was a very good score on that pitch. (Mark Wood's fitness) Unfortunately in his fourth over he felt his left knee. Credit to him - he dealt with a hell of a lot of pain there to get through. He showed a lot of character. He will be assessed going forward. It was difficult when Livi went off the field at some point as well with his ankle but credit to him for coming back as well. It was difficult manning up our best resources but we had to sneak in a couple of overs here and there. (On Root) He's been a brilliant player in all formats. Obviously his ODI record is outstanding. He played an unbelievable innings tonight, showed a lot of character to handle pressure. As I said, one of us in the top six could have stayed with him and got it done. (On his own form and not converting his starts, any particular reason he reckons?) If I knew I probably wouldn't be playing the way I am. Don't feel far away from my best. I am one of the best players in the world and it feels disappointing to not play as well. (On his captaincy future) Not saying any emotional statements right now. For me and the guys at the top, we have to consider all possibilities.

Ibrahim Zadran (Player of the Match, Afghanistan): Thanks to the almighty, I wanted to take a good catch for the team. I batted for 50 overs and wanted to do something on the field for the team. When I took the catch, I enjoyed it. I want to bat longer, the 177 is very special to me, the highest score in the Champions Trophy. We played here in the Asia Cup last year, got an idea of the conditions, and prepared accordingly for that. When you are in the game, you have got a lot of energy and confidence. We will try and play better cricket in the next game. We will play against Australia next, we need to be clinical and not make mistakes. This is international cricket and we need to be up to the mark

10:18 PM local time (10:48 PM IST): Afghanistan beat England by 8 runs!

Ibrahim Zadran 177 (146) | Azmatullah Omarzai 5/58 (9.5)
Joe Root 120 (111) | Jofra Archer 3/64 (10)

Where even do we begin? Afghanistan were 39/3 in their first ten overs with the bat. From there, they mounted 325 when even a 100 fewer seemed a bridge too far. Ibrahim Zadran produced an innings for the ages with Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai chipping in with momentum-sustaining cameos. And then, they did their bit with the ball...

England started positively - as always - but Philip Salt perished soon. Jamie Smith threw it away again as Afghanistan found themselves in with a serious sniff but then came a solid partnership between Ben Duckett and Joe Root. Duckett picked up from where he left off against Australia with Root sauntering along like only he can. The scoring rate was a positive one and England took control with a 68-run stand before Rashid Khan (who else) trapped Duckett in front and got the decision overturned as the Afghans took an inspired review.

Harry Brook began well and seemed set for a big one before he chipped one back to Nabi. That's when the spinners tightened the screws with Noor Ahmad bowling well himself. Skipper Jos Buttler took time to get his eye in even as Root cruised to a fifty and continued to waltz along smoothly. The asking rate steadily rose but things were evenly poised before Buttler broke free with a couple of sixes off Nabi. With Fazalhaq Farooqi off the field, one reckoned England were back on top with Buttler and Root continuing to march along.

That's when Omarzai came on and produced a moment of magic, bouncing Buttler out before Gulbadin Naib had Liam Livingstone caught behind off a wide delivery. Afghanistan were right back in it again and it all came down to Root to do England's bidding. He raised a 17th ton in the format and found good company in Jamie Overton who hung around as the duo played out Rashid and went after the pace of Farooqi, who came back on the field but bowled all over the place. It seemed as though Afghanistan would wilt under pressure again if some of their misfields were anything to go by and while Root was there, England were favorites even as there was very little dew.

But then, Omarzai happened again as he got a cramping Root to put the game back in the balance. Overton played a very good hand but somehow managed to give it away in the 48th over. Farooqi then turned to his cutters to send down a phenomenal penultimate over - one that forced a miscued shot off the bat of Jofra Archer who had to go for a big one. A limping Mark Wood was the last man in and Omarzai did the needful in the final over with England needing 13 to get. That became 9 to win off 2 deliveries and Rashid miscued one to long off, sealing yet another historic win for the Afghans whose magnificent journey in this sport has just written yet another incredible chapter. Celebrations will go long and hard into the night. Nowhere near for England, who have been sent crashing out. Stick around for the presentation...

49.5 Azmatullah Omarzai to Adil Rashid, CAUGHT! THIS IS WHAT CRICKET IS ALL ABOUT! WHAT A WIN FOR AFGHANISTAN AS ENGLAND CRASH OUT OF THE CHAMPIONS TROPHY! Look at Nabi, look at Rashid, look at Ibrahim. Wide grins, teeth out shining. And then you look at the English balcony, where Jos Buttler and Joe Root sink and find the loss hard to shove down their throats - Root is in fact in tears! It was a case of so close yet so far for England. Coming to the delivery, Rashid chanced his arm and went for a hit down the ground. You'd look at the height on that one and think it is going over the ropes but there is not much distance on that one and Ibrahim Zadran, the man who did wonders with the bat in hand, holds on and keeps the flame alight for Afghanistan. Quoting the great Ian Smith: Agony for England, ecstasy for Afghanistan. They win by eight runs. England will feel hard done by that loss. A five wicket haul for Azmatullah Omarzai, and it comes at a time his side needed the most.

Adil Rashid c Ibrahim Zadran b Azmatullah Omarzai 5 (7b, 0x4, 0x6)

49.3 Azmatullah Omarzai to Adil Rashid, IN THE AIR BUT SAFE! Length delivery outside the off stump. Rashid hits that one down the ground and it drops short of long off. Only a single

49.2 Azmatullah Omarzai to Mark Wood, length delivery outside the off stump. Omarzai thrashes that one towards deep extra cover and the pair run a single. Stretch of the knee from Wood as he gets to the other end

49.1 Azmatullah Omarzai to Adil Rashid, length delivery outside the off stump. Rashid hits that one towards deep extra cover and picks up a single. Wood can't return and its only a single. 12 runs needed off 5 balls now!