Giant Steps

NEW DELHI, October 15

Afghanistan pulled off a stunning 69-run win over defending champions England at the World Cup here today, their second ever win in the tournament lifting them off the bottom of the group standings.

Afghanistan came into the match having lost 16 of their last 17 World Cup games, their only victory coming against Scotland in 2015.

Put in to bat, Afghanistan posted 284 after a blistering knock of 80 from opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz and a half-century from Ikram Alikhil.

England crumbled to 215 all out in reply with Harry Brook the only batter to adapt to the conditions with a fighting 66 as spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan took three wickets each.

Mujeeb picked up the key wickets of Joe Root and Brook to set up a famous win and he picked up the Player of the Match award. “Very proud moment to be here in the World Cup and beating the champions, it’s a great achievement for the whole region. I’m so happy with this performance,” Mujeeb said.

Rashid said he hoped the victory would put a smile on the faces of people back in Afghanistan, where multiple earthquakes have killed around 1,000.

OPENING STAND

Afghanistan got off to a flying start with a 114-run opening stand between Gurbaz and Zadran who scored at eight an over in the first powerplay.

Gurbaz brought up his fifty rapidly, but they lost wickets as leg-spinner Adil Rashid dismissed Zadran and had Rahmat Shah stumped in his next over.

Gurbaz looked well set for a World Cup century having smashed eight fours and four sixes, but the 21-year-old was run out by substitute David Willey at midwicket when skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi called him for a risky run. Alikhil and Rashid Khan steadied the ship with a 43-run stand, but the latter was dismissed when he looked to clear the long on boundary in Rashid’s final over. Root — who took four catches — timed his dive to perfection to take a stunning catch in the deep. Alikhil departed for 58 and Mujeeb made 28 off 16 balls.

EARLY WICKETS

England lost early wickets, Fazalhaq Farooqi trapping Jonny Bairstow lbw and Mujeeb dismissing Root with a quicker ball that kept low and crashed into the stumps. Dawid Malan made a patient 32 but fell to Mohammad Nabi, giving Zadran a simple catch in the covers, and skipper Jos Buttler was bowled by a peach of a delivery from Naveen-ul-Haq to leave England reeling at 91/4. — Reuters

World Cup upsets

1983: India-West Indies

The Kapil Dev-led India floored two-time defending champions (1975, 1979) West Indies by 43 runs to win their maiden title at the iconic Lord’s. Defending a meagre 183, India bundled out the mighty West Indies for 140.

1983: Zimbabwe-Australia

Zimbabwe beat Australia by 13 runs on their World Cup debut. Duncan Fletcher made 69 not out to help his side post 239/6. He also claimed 4/42 as the Australian side boasting of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Allan Border were restricted to 226/7.

1996: Kenya-West Indies

Playing their maiden World Cup, Kenya defeated West Indies by 73 runs in Pune. This was the first occasion in World Cup history that a non-Test-playing nation defeated a Test-playing nation. Exploiting a turner, off-spinner Maurice Odumbe’s 3/15 became decisive as the star-studded West Indies with Brian Lara and Richie Richardson in their ranks folded for 93 while chasing 164.

2007: Bangladesh-India

Bangladesh got the better of India in the group stage match at Port of Spain and the result eventually caused team’s early elimination. Mashrafe Mortaza’s 4/38 put India in a spot as they collapsed to a below-par 191. Bangladesh chased down the target with five wickets intact.

2011: Ireland-England

Kevin O’Brien-inspired Ireland chased down a mammoth 328 with three wickets intact in Bengaluru. O’Brien smashed World Cup’s then fastest hundred in 60 balls. He hit six sixes and 13 fours in his knock of 113 that came off just 63 balls.