New Delhi

England captain Jos Buttler admitted after the defeat that his team were 'outplayed' by Afghanistan at the ongoing ODI World Cup in India. England lost the match by 69 runs after failing to achieve the challenging target of 285, primarily due to poor execution by the batters against the Afghan spinners. 

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Speaking at the post-match presentation, Buttler was critical of his team, especially after winning the toss, putting Afghanistan to bat first and not capitalising on the conditions. 

"Disappointing to win the toss and concede that many, me missing that first ball down the leg side set the tone. Credit to Afghanistan, they outplayed us today. It came down to execution, we weren’t quite at the level we’d like to be with both bat and ball," said Buttler. 

Buttler lauded the Afghan bowlers for keeping a tight lid on the English batters by bowling 'dead straight' lines. 

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"They have some fantastic bowlers, the dew didn’t come in as much as we expected, and the ball held up a bit too. They bowled dead straight and kept the stumps in play, we just weren’t quite good enough," said the English captain. 

Quizzed how his team would bounce back from the setback, especially after suffering two defeats in the opening three games, Butter said players needed this defeat to hurt them.

"You got to let these defeats hurt, there’s no point in getting over things too quickly, we need to reflect. There’s a lot of character in this group, we need to show a lot of resilience and come back stronger. We need to have guys being able to perform under pressure and that’s what all of us will be working hard towards."

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Also read | World Cup 2023: 'A fairytale win', fans rejoice Afghanistan's stunning victory against England

This was just the first one 

Meanwhile, an elated Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said his side would look to build upon this win, going further into the tournament. 

"I want to say that the belief, trust and talent is there. Last couple of games we didn’t finish well but the belief is there. This is just the first win, we are looking for more in the tournament. This was just the first one, not the last one."

While each Afghan player contributed to the victory, it was Mujeeb Ur Rahman who stood out with his bowling exploits and was rightfully adjudged the Player of the Match. After the win, he dedicated the award to the people of Afghanistan who recently braved a devastating earthquake. 

"This trophy is for the people back home who are affected by the earthquake in Herat. This whole win is for them."

After Sunday's win, Afghanistan will square up against New Zealand next week at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai - a pitch that supports spinners. 

(With inputs from agencies)

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