Afghanistan vs England: Ibrahim Zadran becomes the first player in history to surpass Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.
Afghanistan vs England: In a group match in Lahore, opener Ibrahim Zadran helped Afghanistan overcome an early stutter to defeat England 325-7 with a Champions Trophy record of 177.
Ankush Pandey
Afghanistan vs England: In a group match against England in Lahore on Wednesday, opener Ibrahim Zadran struck a Champions Trophy record of 177 to help Afghanistan overcome an early stutter to 325-7. The losing team is eliminated from the 50-over tournament's semi-final race, making the Group B match at Gaddafi Stadium essentially a knockout.
Afghanistan decided to bat in an attempt to recover from their opening defeat, despite boycott calls from some British politicians regarding the situation of women in the Taliban-ruled country. However, they quickly fell to 37-3 in nine overs before Zadran and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi's 103-run partnership at the fourth wicket brought the innings together.
IND vs PAK Live Cricket Score: Pakistan all out, India needs to score 242 runs to win
Highest individual scores in Champions Trophy
- 177 Ibrahim Zadran 100 vs. Eng Lahore 202
- 165 Aus Lahore vs. Ben Duckett, 2025
- 145* USA vs. Nathan Astle, The Oval 2004
- 145 Ind Colombo RPS vs. Andy Flower, 2002
- 141*Sourav Ganguly vs. SA Nairobi, 2000
- 141 Australia v. Sachin Tendulkar, Dhaka, 1998
- 141 Eng Centurion vs. Graeme Smith, 2009
The 23-year-old Zadran destroyed the England bowling and surpassed his previous ODI best of 162 with a 146-ball knock that included six sixes and 12 fours.
Days after Ben Duckett's 165 in England's opening defeat to Australia, he hit a tournament record in addition to breaking his own record for Afghanistan's highest individual ODI score.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was bowled for six off the opening three blows delivered by England's fast bowler Jofra Archer, including two in a single over.
Mark Wood, Jofra's new ball partner, was injured and left the pitch twice after they had worked up to speeds of 145 to 150 kmph.
Captain Jos Buttler had to switch up his bowling options because Wood was out after bowling just four overs, which allowed Zadran to counterattack.
After bowling Shahidi, leg-spinner Adil Rashid finally broke the stand when the ball rattled the stumps after Shahidi failed to connect on an attempted reverse sweep.
As he and Azmatullah Omarzai switched gears in a fast-paced stand of 72 until Omarzai left on 41, Zadran reached his seventh ODI century with a single off Liam Livingstone.
Zadran continued to attack and hit Archer for three fours and a six, unfazed by the wicket.
Buttler was left to weigh his options against a furious Zadran and Nabi after Wood bowled another four-over set.
(This story is automatically generated from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by BlogyHunb staff.)
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