Afghanistan stunned England with a thrilling 8-run victory in the Champions Trophy on Wednesday (Feb 26), courtesy of Ibrahim Zadran’s majestic 177 and Azmatullah Omarzai’s brilliant five-wicket haul. The win knocked a lackluster England out of the tournament, leaving them winless after two matches.

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England will now face South Africa in their final Group B encounter, while Afghanistan, with two points, must defeat Australia to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive.

Chasing 326, England struggled early as Phil Salt and Jamie Smith fell cheaply, and were reduced to 30 for two. Despite Joe Root’s masterful 120 off 111 balls, featuring 11 fours and a six, England faltered at crucial moments. Root built steady partnerships, adding 68 runs with Ben Duckett (38) and 83 with skipper Jos Buttler. However, their dismissals disrupted England’s chase, leaving Root to anchor the innings alone.

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Root’s knock was a display of finesse rather than power, maintaining a near-run-a-ball strike rate with inventive strokes, including a reverse sweep off Noor Ahmad and a scooped six off Fazalhaq Farooqi. He reached his 17th ODI century with a single off Rashid Khan but eventually perished while attempting a ramp shot off Omarzai, caught by Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

Jamie Overton (32 off 28) fought bravely, adding 54 for the seventh wicket, but his dismissal to Omarzai sealed England’s fate. Omarzai’s 5/58 proved decisive as England were bowled out for 317 with one ball remaining, marking the end of their campaign.

Earlier, Afghanistan had struggled at 37/3 in the ninth over, but Zadran steadied the innings, forging key partnerships—a 72-run stand with Omarzai (41 off 31) for the fifth wicket and a 111-run partnership with Mohammad Nabi (40 off 24) for the sixth. Hashmatullah Shahidi also contributed 40 off 67 balls.

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Zadran, whose daddy hundred came off 146 balls (12x4, 6x6), had solid support from skipper Hashmathullah Shahidi (40, 67b, 3x4), with whom he raised 103 runs for the fourth wicket, and Azmatullah Omarzai (41, 31b) with whom he milked 72 runs for the fifth wicket.

Later, he plundered 111 runs for the sixth wicket with Mohammed Nabi (40, 24b) to put England through the wringer.

Brief scores:
Afghanistan: 325/7 in 50 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 177, Hashmatullah Shahidi 40, Azmatullah Omarzai 41, Mohammad Nabi 40; Jofra Archer 3/64, Liam Livingstone 2/28) beat England: 317 all out in 49.5 overs (Joe Root 120, Ben Duckett 38, Jos Buttler 38, Jamie Overton 32; Azmatullah Omarzai 5/58, Mohammad Nabi 2/58).