Root’s masterclass in vain as Afghanistan knockout England

This edition of the ICC Champions Trophy has been struggling to catch the imagination of the cricket fans owing to the lack of close contests. The matches at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, however, are proving to be a saving grace for the tournament and the 50-over format which is fighting for relevance in the era of T20 cricket.

After a high-scoring England versus Australia game last Saturday, England and Afghanistan dished out another thrilling run fest to create much-needed buzz around ODI cricket.

Amid some superb performances from the Afghanistan players, it was a vintage century from 34-year-old Joe Root that brought the game alive as England made a valiant bid to chase down a target of 326. In a contest which went right down to the wire, it all boiled down to England needing 16 runs off 12 balls with two wickets in hand. The Afghanistan pacers, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai held their nerves to defend the total for an eight-run victory and knock England out of the competition.

Omarzai was the star of the evening with five wickets for 58 runs to go with his cameo of 41 off 31 balls which had provided the impetus to Afghanistan innings at a crucial stage. Opener Ibrahim Zadran was the other hero of the day for the Afghans, hitting a brilliant 177 to help his team finish on 325/7, after Jofra Archer had reduced them to 37/3.

For the England players, it was a repeat of their embarrassment of the last time the two teams met, in 2023’s ODI World Cup, when Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Mujeeb Ur Rahman combined to best the defending champions.

England also had a sedate start but looked to be in the game after 15 overs at 93/2. The in-form Ben Duckett was well set along with the experienced Joe Root. Afghanistan had taken a chance by choosing to bowl second as holding the ball would have been a challenge for the spinners if the dew set in. And when their strike spinner Rashid Khan’s first two overs went for 18 runs, it was a cause for some concern.

To the delight of his fans, the wily leg-spinner roared back in his third over when he nailed the dangerous Duckett in front of the wickets to tilt the scale heavily in his team’s favour. Umpire Rod Tucker wasn’t interested in Rashid’s appeal but the DRS verdict went in the bowler’s favour.

Harry Brook didn’t last long either and the England captain Jos Buttler walked in with 192 runs needed in 28 overs with six wickets in hand. Root was chugging along nicely at the other end but England struggled to break free. The first six of their innings came in the 30th over when Buttler danced down and lifted Nabi over the midwicket fence. It proved to be a one-off hit. At the total of 216, Buttler also fell when he top-egded an Azmatullah Omarzai bouncer to be caught by Rahmat Shah.

Root reached his 17th hundred off 98 balls, but he was battling cramps and an equation of 80 runs in 52 balls looked beyond him and England. At a crucial stage, the help for Root needed came from Jamie Overton. A couple of boundaries by Overton got the target down to 65 from 42 balls.

Physically he was struggling but the mind was ticking. It is when the England stalwart brought out an outrageous ramp-scoop right over his head for a six off Fazalhaq Farooqui to get it down to 52 off 35 balls. Under pressure, it was a masterclass from the 34-year-old battle hardened veteran.

With 39 needed off 25 balls, Azmatullah Omarzai got the big wicket of the England centurion with a sharp bouncer which Root gloved to the keeper to trigger the celebration among the colorful Afghanistan supporters in the stands.

Despite Omarzai’s brilliance, the fans were celebrating the performance of Zadran. Playing with a lot of maturity, the opener soaked in the early pressure, and had the pundits marvelling at his strokeplay.

Coming into the Champions Trophy, he had played 33 0DIs since making his debut in 2019, but his last 50 overs game had been in March 2024, versus Ireland. He had opted to take a break from the 50 overs format to work on his game to get more effective in T20 cricket.

While he has added another gear to his game, he remains a classical player in the Virat Kohli mould, not the T20 power-hitters. There were 12 exquisitely timed fours and six clean strikes for sixes, hit all around the wicket during his 146-ball essay.