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Afghanistan (325/7) defeat England (317) by 8 runs in a thriller to keep their hunt for semi-finals spot alive in ICC Champions Trophy 2025

The Bald Eagle

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The 2025 edition of the ICC Champions Trophy is up and running and we have already seen some surprises in the competition and with half of the group stage fixtures still remaining, we have already got our first two semifinalists in the form of India and New Zealand from Group A. However, Group B is a different story and in Match 8 of the competition, it will be Afghanistan taking on England in a do-or-die clash at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore. With both teams having lost their opening encounters, a loss here and it could be all over. Having said that, both teams might have lost their first games, but they did so in contrasting fashions and have different areas of the game to improve upon. Afghanistan were demolished by the South African bowling attack whereas, it was the batting from Australia that inflicted defeat upon England after having put on a monumental total on the board themselves. Also, when these two teams last met in an ICC ODI event, it was the ODI World Cup of 2023 in India which England would like to forget and on that occasion, it was Afghanistan that came out on top and in the recent series against India, England had their struggles against spin which will instill belief into the Afghans that they can do it again. However, England did bat pretty well in their first game with Ben Duckett scoring a blazing 165, taking his side to above the 350-run mark. Joe Root also showed why he still is England's best batter in sub-continental conditions with a fine knock of his own but the middle order couldn't quite deliver as Harry Brook continued his poor run of form.

Their bowling though was a big let down and they had opportunities at different stages of the game to get on top of proceedings but failed to do so and only Adil Rashid was the one shining light. With Brysdon Carse now ruled out of the tournament and Rehan Ahmed in as his replacement, we might see them play and extra spinner. Afghanistan, on the other hand, conceded too many runs in their last game and their bowling attack wasn't as lethal as expected and they certainly need someone to aid Fazalhaq Farooqi with the new ball from the other end like Naveen ul Haq used to. Also, they generally win matches when that opening pair fires and they need at least one of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran to give them that start at the top which then the middle order can build on. That spin trio of Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad and Mohammad Nabi will be crucial as usual but they need the batters to do their job as well if they are to get the win. All in all, two wounded teams who will be disappointed with their previous performances but will have a chance to usher in a new dawn and bolster their hopes of making it through the group stages. Who do you think will come out on top?

Squads:

Afghanistan Squad:

England Squad : Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood, Rehan Ahmed


Afghanistan Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Ibrahim Zadran, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah (vice-capt), Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Fareeh Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Nangeyalia Kharote, Naveed Zadran, Noor Ahmad.

=======

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Afghanistan captain in a pre-game press conference today shared following thoughts:

[Reporter:]

Before tomorrow's match, dozens of British politicians have called for the English Cricket Board to boycott tomorrow's match. How do you see this call and do such calls affect your own performances as well?

[Hashmatullah Shahidi:]

As I said in the last press also we are cricket players, we are sportspersons, we are sportsmen. So, we control what we can do inside the ground. So, we don't worry about what's happening out of the ground. And that cannot do anything to our confidence. We play hard, we work hard, we have good net sessions. So that's what we're thinking of and we only can do what we can do in the ground.

[Reporter:]

Legendary Younus Khan is your mentor. So how is he beneficial for your team?

[Hashmatullah Shahidi:]

It's more beneficial because Younus Khan is a legend and he played a lot of international cricket and he's as a mentor with us, so every player listens to him and the person the pupils like Younus Khan, if he says one word to you, that one word can change your game. He's a mentor, he is just working with us on our mindset. And yeah, everyone listens to him and hopefully that works, because he knows these Pakistan conditions. He played a lot - so about the ground and pitches also, we take advice from him and hopefully that works for us.

[Reporter]

When you had your practice match here against Pakistan, a lot of your fans came here and wanted permission to enter the stadium to see their stars. What is your message for them? Because even when we were coming here, they were saying that they are die-hard fans of the Afghan cricket team and are hoping for a strong performance from Afghanistan. What message would you like to give them? Any message of yours for them?

[Hashmatullah Shahidi]

Afghans have always supported us—it’s their own team. No matter where we are, they reach out to us and pray for us. I also know that many Afghans live here in Pakistan. When we played in Karachi, the stadium was almost full within two minutes. We expect the same here as well that our Afghan fans will come and support us, and this support gives us a lot of positive energy. By God’s will, fans from Afghanistan will also come and many Afghans already lives here in Pakistan. So, we hope they all come and support us here. Hopefully.

[Reporter:]

The ICC have said they're going to up their support for the exiled Afghan women's team. They're going to try and get them playing on the international stage. Is that something you and the team would support? They're in Australia at the moment. Would you like to see the Afghan women playing?

[Hashmatullah Shahidi:]

Yeah, everyone likes to see everyone play. As I said before to the other person about the same, when it comes to politics and those things which we cannot control - we are only cricket players we can control things in the ground and we belong to the ground and we are always trying to give our best when we play.
 
Jos Buttler- England pre-match press conference, 25 Feb '25

[Reporter:]

Obviously you miss him - Brydon, but is it comforting and reassuring that you have someone in Jamie that's pretty much a like replacement?

[Jos Buttler:]

Yeah obviously really disappointed for Brydon to be ruled out from the tournament, but it gives opportunity to Jamie Overton who's been performing really well, I'd say similar style of cricketer, so excited for him to get his chance.

[Reporter:]

Australia and South Africa we just seen has been rained off, obviously puts fair buck in your hands, potentially worry about net run rate - is that a bit of a boost for your team?

[Jos Buttler:]

I think the equation would be the same no matter what, we need to win two games of cricket, first of all we focus fully on tomorrow, its going to be a tough test against Afghanistan, but we're really excited for that challenge. everyone's very much looking forward to the game, try to build on the positives of the last performance and try to take home the victory.

[Reporter:]

Obviously last time you guys met was the 2023 World Cup, what did you learn from that fixture?

[Jos Buttler:]

Yeah obviously, a very competitive side, have been performing very well, getting better and better over the years and give them lots of respect. Unique style in some senses with some great spin options in Rashid and Noor, obviously two standout guys that we need to prepare really well for. But as much as we look at the opposition, it's focusing on ourselves, bringing the best version of our cricket and being confident that that will be enough to win the game.

[Reporter:]

Obviously the backdrop to this fixture has been dominated by a bit of political discourse in the background. I'm just wondering what the deciding factor was for you to say I'm comfortable for this to go ahead. I know you said you've chatted with Mohammed Nabi and what was sort of discussed there with you two?

[Jos Buttler:]

Yeah, I think I'm taking a lot of advice from lots of experts. I think credit to Rob Key and the ECB – they’ve been very, very good at supporting me and all the players and giving us information and education around this and making it an ECB decision. We’re very saddened the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan at the moment and the struggles that they are facing. But we hope that the game tomorrow can be a source of hope and an enjoyment in what's obviously a tough time at the moment. We're really excited about the match. Sport has a great power to unite people and give hope and that's what we hope this game will do.

[Reporter:]

There's been some talk with India knowing that all their games will be in Dubai, that gives them a big advantage. Is that something you've got a view on?

[Jos Buttler:]

Not really. I think it's a unique tournament already, isn't it, with being hosted here with one team playing in a different place but that's not something I'm sort of worried too much about at the moment. I've got all my focus on preparing well tonight and our game tomorrow.

[Reporter:]

In terms of the balance of your squad, does that make it harder knowing you might have to play in two different countries compared to only one?

[Jos Buttler:]

No, not necessarily. I don't think conditions are going to be too outrageously different, to be honest. So, look, as I said, we've really focused one game at a time. We focused hard on the Australia game and we didn't get the result that we wanted. So, we dust ourselves down and prepare really well for tomorrow and get the level of performance that'll give us a positive result.

[Reporter:]

Just after getting Rehan, now three spinners in the English side and on the other side have also three quality spinners. So how do you compare these spin attacks and secondly – if these spin attacks would be bowling - what would be the ideal total for the team batting first?

[Jos Buttler:]

I think every game of cricket is turning up and assessing the conditions and playing accordingly. I think sitting here tonight and giving you a guess at a total is quite hard. But we know that Afghanistan possess some fantastic spinners and they're the cornerstone of their side. And for us, we've got a nice mix of spin and obviously some fantastic pace bowling options as well - so we're very comfortable with the balance of our team.

[Reporter:]

Harry Brooke is a great performer but he's not been doing well recently - are you concerned about his form and what do you expect from him in the next match?

[Jos Buttler:]

No, I don't have any concerns for Harry. Harry's one of the biggest and brightest young players in the world game. Obviously he has high expectations for himself and wants to perform well and be a match winner for the side and generally speaking, a player of that quality, the longer they don't do that the closer they are always to coming back and performing really well. We know he's an important member of the team - as I said he is one of the best young players in the world so we got full trust and confidence in him.

[Reporter:]

The Afghan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi was here and one of the things he said was it suits Afghanistan slightly better generally when they bat first. And I just wondered if you have a view on whether you'd like to bat or chase given the dew seemed to be a bit of a factor against Australia.

[Jos Buttler:]

Yeah, I think obviously in the Australia game the dew did come in and second innings probably skidded on a bit better. But no, as I said, each game is individual. You got to play well. The toss doesn't guarantee a result either, so whatever happens at the toss we know we need to put in a level of performance to win the game.

[Reporter:]

You know the last match was totally batting wicket. What do you expect from tomorrow's pitch? Especially if it will be for batting or useful for spin? What about your pace attack, especially the way they bowled against Australia, It wasn't up to the mark.

Are you going to change some of your fast bowlers, because in the previous match, they were not up to the mark. Australia chased 351, that was a huge target. But despite a heavy target, they chased it out. And what about your group position, because today’s match was abandoned and now every match is do and die situation for every team?

[Jos Buttler:]

Yeah, I think pretty much from the start of the tournament, every game is a must win. We've got two games left and to progress further, we know we have to win those games. So that's a very clear situation for us to be in. I think the other question about the seam bowlers, we got great confidence in those guys. Level of performance was good and as always there's little areas we want to improve and chase that perfect game.

[Reporter:]

You said after the T20 World Cup last year you were slightly concerned about your own job; you got renewed by Rob Key to carry on in the role. Do you feel like the stakes are quite personally high on this match? Like it's - obviously with its - a right over the gate, the team's right on the precipice here.

[Jos Buttler:]

Yeah absolutely I think anytime as an England captain you want to perform and you want to perform well and you want you to lead your team to winning games of cricket. We haven't been doing that enough in the recent past, but very soon as you sort of catch yourself thinking about any negative things or those kind of things trying to completely flip that and focus on all the positive things that could go right and where you can take the team. So, yeah, very much focused on that.

[Reporter:]

Just to follow up on that question earlier about the quicks and kind of what you're expecting from them this game given the Australia game, how was the kind of debrief with the bowlers and what are you kind of expecting from them looking ahead to this match?

[Jos Buttler:]

Yeah, the debrief was pretty easy to be honest. I thought, as we all felt, that we did good things in phases and probably just weren't quite consistent enough in a couple of areas. And also, sometimes you've got to give credit to someone who plays an outstanding innings. So, yeah, we've sort of parked that now. We look forward to the game tomorrow. The guys have all prepared really well. We turn up with a lot of positivity and trying to impart our style of play on the game tomorrow.
 
Must-win game for the Afghans.

If they lose, they are eliminated.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If somehow Aghanistan get a bit of tranditional dry wicket in Lahore they will surely test england batters with their spin brust.
 
What a great atmosphere in Rawalpindi and such a beautiful cricket ground and surroundings.

It’s unfortunate that the home team is out and that this tournament is too short.

IMG_8934.jpegIMG_8932.jpeg
 
Toss Update:

Afghanistan have won the toss and have opted to bat

Teams:

England (Playing XI): Philip Salt, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith(w), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(c), Liam Livingstone, Jofra Archer, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi
 
What’s happened to Ibrahim’s feet? Why is he playing so far away from his body with zero feet movement?
 
So for those who wanted 2 spinners in Pakistan, let’s put you to the test.

Afghanistan have 3 world class spinners here, they are 15-2 in Lahore

What score do they need to defend against England with their spinners on these decks?
 
Changed my DP in honour of Afghanistan cricket team.

Good luck our Pathan brothers.

Your Sanatani brothers will always cheer for you!

Come on,
Destroy the Inglis

🇦🇫 🇦🇫🇦🇫🇦🇫🇦🇫🇦🇫🇦🇫
 
Rana said:
So for those who wanted 2 spinners in Pakistan, let’s put you to the test.

Afghanistan have 3 world class spinners here, they are 15-2 in Lahore

What score do they need to defend against England with their spinners on these decks?
Click to expand...
@Aqib_mustafa

Go on then big boy, what score do Afghanistan need here?
 
Rana said:
So for those who wanted 2 spinners in Pakistan, let’s put you to the test.

Afghanistan have 3 world class spinners here, they are 15-2 in Lahore

What score do they need to defend against England with their spinners on these decks?
Click to expand...
At least 280
 
Devadwal said:
Yet another Boring & One side match in the champion trophy. Such a waste of tournament .

:kp
Click to expand...

Schedule is silly. They put all the good matches in first week itself and gave a week gap in between for next Ind match.

Ind first match should hv been against Pak and against BD mid of this week. That would have been good.
 
Rajdeep said:
Schedule is silly. They put all the good matches in first week itself and gave a week gap in between for next Ind match.

Ind first match should hv been against Pak and against BD mid of this week. That would have been good.
Click to expand...
More than india , Host pakistan match schedule is very silly.

Pakistan should have played 1st game against Bangladesh than again Nz and last against india .

:kp
 
Some momentum is going in our favour right now. I hope these batsmen can capitalise on it and post a total closer to 250 runs.

🇦🇫
 
Hashmat bhai trying to be cheeky against Adil bhai not respecting him enough and paying the highest price for this mistake.

We must learn to be respectful and play brave conventional cricket only
 
Rajdeep said:
Schedule is silly. They put all the good matches in first week itself and gave a week gap in between for next Ind match.

Ind first match should hv been against Pak and against BD mid of this week. That would have been good.
Click to expand...
Devadwal said:
No its PCB decision not ICC. Every host nation is first give Entire schedule list to ICC then ICC approved it.

:kp
Click to expand...
The tournament would have been better if Icc and bcci didn't have such an ego of scheduling pak and India in every group game for ego purposes.

Pak, Afg, Bangladesh and sa should have been in one group as all these teams are realtove to one another. Sa is head and shoulders > the other 3 but their choker mentality would have made the group interesting as they were bound to botch one game atleast.

And aus, India, Nz and eng should have been the other group as despite eng being the weakest one, it's still a gun team that can surprise you on its given day. The only issue would be that one of the semi's would be a snooze fest.

But having one snooze fest and otherwise gun matches for the rest of the event over every match except aus vs eng being a snooze fest would make this tournament more marketable.

People need to get rid of this pak vs India obsession and eng vs Aus obsession.

Both affairs have been one sided for a while now and are irrelevant beyond the hostile history that they share. And even then, Aus and eng only have a rivalry in tests. In odi it's just marketing hype propagated by rubbish media outlets.
 
I like this opener, Ibrahim Zadran. Looks decent in technique, knows how to rotate strike and pace the innings. Doesn’t gets bogged down and blocks too many deliveries. Averages 47 in 34 in ODI’s with SR:80. Which is good going for a opener.
 
Dissapointing crowd for an Afghanistan match especially considering that the match is being played in Pakistan
 
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