Sam Curran’s sensational five-wicket haul and some remarkable fielding helped England defeat Afghanistan by five wickets in their Twenty20 World Cup opener on Saturday in Perth.
Jos Buttler, captain of England, won the toss and opted to play, and his seam bowlers secured the victory for one of the tournament favorites.
Curran, a left-arm quick, was the first England bowler to take five wickets in a Twenty20 match, dismissing Afghanistan for 112 in 19.4 overs.
England, who were eliminated in the semi-finals of last year’s World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, reached their target in 18.1 overs, but only after the Afghanistan bowlers demonstrated their point by taking five wickets.
The bowlers were notable. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who had hit a six in the previous over, was caught behind for 10 with the first ball of the next over bowled by Mark Wood.
During the first six overs of power play, when only two fielders are permitted outside the inner circle, the England fast bowlers largely contained the scoring. However, Ibrahim Zadran responded with a six and two fours.
Ben Stokes, who bowled the first over and got figures of 2-19, returned to dismiss Hazratullah Zazai, with Liam Livingstone collecting a superb running catch at full stretch in the deep.
Zadran’s run-a-ball knock, which resulted in a check shot to backward point off Curran, was an attempt to maintain the pace. He made 32.
Adil Rashid sprinted backwards to make a spectacular catch at deep mid-wicket, sending back Najibullah Zadran and giving Stokes his second wicket.
Mohammad Nabi, the captain of the opposing team, was sent back to the pavilion for three runs after Buttler gloved a one-handed catch down the leg side.
Afghanistan continued to lose wickets after reaching 91-4.
Curran completed his third over with a hat-trick after taking two wickets off successive balls, including Rashid Khan for a duck.
Usman Ghani played out the hat-trick ball at the beginning of the 20th over, but was dismissed on the next delivery when Curran removed his tail.
In response, England lost openers Jos Buttler (18) and Alex Hales (19), but Afghanistan’s fielders failed to collect their catches. Hales was dismissed twice on four and seventeen.
Afghanistan continued to attack as England lost half their team and Rashid Khan sent Harry Brook back.
Livingstone, undefeated on 29, and Moeen Ali, on eight, scored the remaining runs.
AFP