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England suffered a dismal 69-run loss against Afghanistan in the 13th match of the 2023 World Cup on Sunday (October 15) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. After their second defeat in three games, England are now fifth in the points table.
After being asked to bat first in the contest, Afghanistan put on a respectable score of 284 on the scoreboard in 49.5 overs.
Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz (80) played a blazing knock to set the platform for the Afghan batting line-up. Ikram Alikhil (58) hit a valuable half-century in the lower-middle order to build the innings on that platform. Rashid Khan (23) and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (28) also chipped in with cameos in the end.
In reply, England were timid in their approach as Afghanistan spinners dominated them with tight lines. Opener Dawid Malan (32) got a start but failed to convert it.
Harry Brook (66) was the only other batter to put up a fight as the rest of the line-up surrendered meekly. Afghanistan spin trio of Rashid Khan (3/37), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (3/51), and Mohammad Nabi (2/16) helped their side bundle England out for 215 in just 40.3 overs.
Fans took note of England's poor performance against Afghanistan on Sunday and trolled them on X (formerly Twitter). Here are some of the best reactions:
"The dew didn't come in as expected"- England captain Jos Buttler after the loss against Afghanistan
At the post-match presentation, Jos Buttler expressed disappointment on losing the contest. He reflected on his team's performance in the match and said:
"Disappointing, having won the toss and electing to field and me missing the ball down the leg-side early on, tough loss to take and obviously couldn't set the tone but congratulations to Afghanistan on the win, they outplayed us today. I think, you always think about execution both with the bat and ball, not at the level we wanted to be, consistently enough, that's the areas we lost the game."
Buttler continued:
"The dew didn't come in as expected and held on the surface with uneven bounce, they put us under lots of pressure and kept always stumps in play and we weren't quite good enough in the day. As a whole we were not at the level we like to be, in World Cups and against good opposition, guys putting under pressure and that's where we need to be. Everyone on the field and we will be working on putting that right."
The English side will next face high-flying South Africa on Saturday (October 21) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
