T20 World Cup 2022, ENG vs AFG: Sam Curran scripts history as England thump Afghanistan

Sam Curran's five-for stole the show tonight [Source: AP]

Riding on Sam Curran's spectacular five-for, England edged past Afghanistan by five wickets in their first Super 12 encounter in Perth. The Englishmen announced their arrival in the World Cup with this victory.

Afghanistan fall flat as Curran runs riot

Curran's five-for left Afghanistan shell-shocked [Source: AP]

Batting first, Afghanistan got off to a disappointing start, losing star batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 10. Hazratullah Zazai struggled to get going before eventually perishing for a sloth-paced 17-ball 7. 

Ibrahim Zadran and Usman Ghani showed some guts with the bat, scoring 32 and 30 runs, respectively. However, Ghani fought the battle alone after Zadran fell prey to Sam Curran. The English speedster never let the Afghan batters breathe easily in the middle, as he finished with incredible bowling figures of five for 10, adding Ghani, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan and Fazalhaq Farooqi to the list of his victims. In this process, Curran recorded the best bowling figures by an English bowler in T20 world Cup history. 

Experienced batters Mohammad Nabi (3 off 5) and Najibullah Zadran (13 off 11) failed to fire, as Afghanistan were eventually bundled out for a meagre 112. 

England chase the total despite frequent hiccups

Livingstone held his nerve to seal the win for England [Source: AP]

In contrast to their reputation, England began the chase a bit slowly, as openers Alex Hales and Jos Buttler added 35 runs in five overs before Buttler was sent back to the dugout by Fazalhaq Farooqi. Hales, much like his opening partner, couldn't convert his start into a big score, being Fareed Malik's first victim for a 20-ball 19. 

The English supporters had their hearts in their mouths when Mohammad Nabi cleaned up Ben Stokes for two. Seventeen balls later, Mujeeb aggravated England's miseries by dismissing Dawid Malan. 

However, Liam Livingstone played a valuable knock of 29 runs to help England get over the line with 11 balls to spare. Afghanistan bowlers and fielders were exceptional on the field, but the total of just 112 proved a bit too less in the end. 

Brief Scores

Afghanistan: 112 (19.4)
Ibrahim Zadran 32 (32), Usman Ghani 30 (30);
Sam Curran 5/10 (3.4), Ben Stokes 2/19 (4)

England: 113/5 (18.1)
Liam Livingstone 29* (21), Alex Hales 19 (20);
Mohammad Nabi 1/16 (3), Rashid Khan 1/17 (4)

England won by five wickets. 

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