On This Day: Afghanistan stunned England in Cricket World Cup 2023

On October 15, 2023, Afghanistan beat England by 69 runs in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2025 game held in Delhi. Earlier, the English captain Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to field first. Afghan openers

Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran displayed confidence and built a 114-run stand together for the first wicket off just 100 balls. Adil Rashid stepped up for England and got rid of Zadran (28 off 48) and Rahmat Shah (3 off 8) in quick intervals. Gurbaz, who was in fine touch, also got run out after amassing brisk 80 runs off 57 balls. His knock was studded with 12 boundaries (eight fours and four maximums).

Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (14 off 36) and Azmatullah Omarzai (19 off 24) also fell against Joe Root and Liam Livingstone respectively. Veteran Mohammad Nabi could score only nine off 15. In the last 10 overs, wicketkeeper-batter Ikram Akhil (58 off 66), Rashid Khan (23 off 22), and Mujeeb ur Rahman (28 off 16) made vital contributions to help Afghanistan reach a total of 284 in 49.5 overs. 

Afghanistan's spin attack wrecked England's batting unit

Defending the total, Afghanistan got rid of dangerous Jonny Bairstow (2 off 4) in the second over. Fazalhaq Farooqi took the veteran's scalp. Mujeeb Ur Rahman cleaned up Joe Root in the seventh over of the innings and built pressure on defending champions. Nabi got Dawid Malan caught at the hands of Zadran and ended the southpaw's innings on 32 (39).

Naveen-ul-Haq cleaned up Jos Buttler (9 off 18) and with his fall, England never looked settled in the chase. Except for Harry Brook (66 off 61), no mainstay batter looked disciplined in front of Afghanistan's disciplined bowling. Eventually, the Afghan team capitulated on 215 in 40.3 overs. Mujeeb and Rashid Khan got three wickets each while Nabi also picked up two scalps. Farooqi and Naveen also bagged one wicket apiece. Mujeeb's all-round performance (28 off 16 and 3/51) made him the Player of the Match (POTM).