Afghanistan had a massive change of fortune in their second match, having won brilliant games against England: a mere 317 for England vs. 328 for Afghanistan; a couple of gladiatorial stands between Root and Buttler, with Root fighting all the way up to 103 came second after a great start by Zadran for 177.
“Afghanistan. You guys rock. Kammaaal Kaardi. For England. Take playing in the Subcontinent seriously with no excuses,” Shastri tweeted on Wednesday night.
Afghanistan. You guys rock. Kammaaal Kaardi. For England. Take playing in the Subcontinent seriously with no excuses. Only then you will be recognised as a Team that can TRAVEL #AFGvENG #ChampionsTrophy2025 pic.twitter.com/6dUYlzAVc5
— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) February 26, 2025
England are still without a win after two games, though they will get one last chance to redeem themselves in their final group match against South Africa, who already have 3 points besides Australia.
The England team was coming off a 0-3 series loss to India; the final drop in their spirits was in the marquee event.
On Thursday, the race for England kept them unsettled for some time as wickets of Phil Salt and Jamie Smith well and truly woke up them early on. When all was said and done, they fell for a grand total of 317 on the last ball, contrary to fast bowler Omarzai picking up important wickets at crucial junctures.
He partnered Root with the likes of Ben Duckett to add a good 68 runs for England at that point and, later, he batted great together with captain Jos Buttler to add another 83 runs for the fifth wicket.
While neither push was particularly explosive by any means, it kept England afloat and effectively kept them on the brink of the asking rate. Apart from Root, England’s cause gained a further willing advantage from Jamie Overton, who made a handy 34 runs for the seventh wicket only for him to perish trying the ball off Omarzai.
The bitter end of England’s story in the champions trophy is the sack in the tights; that is, the ODI World Cup round that they had outplayed during 2023.
This marked the end of England’s two-year journey in the Champions Trophy after a league-stage exit from the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Zadran plundered 111 runs for the sixth wicket with Mohammad Nabi to put England through the wringer. He flourished in the company of Omarzai as England felt the heat of double-barrel firing.
England had to deal with a knee injury to star pacer Mark Wood, as he bowled just eight overs even after spending some time away from the field during Afghanistan’s innings.
Not just Shastri but former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar also took a massive dig at the eliminated England side.
“They will still come and start moaning the next morning. They cannot lose. If they lose there has to be an excuse and the excuse cannot be that they weren’t better that day or the other team was better; they will start blaming everything,” Gavaskar said while speaking on the Dressing Room Show.
“They will start blaming India also, since India is playing all their matches in Dubai and why are we not playing our matches at one venue,” Gavaskar added.
