England started their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign with a five-wicket victory over Afghanistan at Perth Stadium on Saturday. The win didn’t come as easy as the English team would have anticipated; despite chasing a paltry target of 113, the Jos Buttler-led team lost five wickets and could finish the proceedings in 18.1 overs.
After losing captain Buttler and his opening partner Alex Hales, the responsibility to take their team out of hot water fell on all-rounder Ben Stokes. However, the all-rounder failed to live up to the expectations as he was bamboozled by a brilliant delivery from Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi.
It all happened on the fourth delivery of the 11th over when Nabi opted to bowl round the wicket. Stokes came down the track and looked to push the white leather, but Nabi delivered a 104kph seam-up ball which brushed the batters’ pad before hitting the stumps.
Here is the video:
England did lose wickets at regular intervals, but the low total wasn’t enough for Afghan bowlers to put pressure on the Three Lions. Liam Livingstone top-scored for his side, smashing an unbeaten 29 from 21 deliveries.
Earlier, Sam Curran led England’s bowling unit and claimed a sensational five-wicket haul to bundle out Afghanistan for just 112 in 19.4 overs.
“We saw the way the Afghanistan team made it quite tricky, we knew they had world-class spinners in the middle there. Nice to get the first win. Every team can beat anyone. Hopefully, we take today’s confidence into Wednesday’s game and then the big one against Australia on Friday. Hopefully, we can play with confidence—no better preparation than playing that many games. To come here and start with a win is obviously great. It’ll be another tricky game against Ireland. I try to be as adaptable as possible (with the ball). I’m trying to get better at different phases and keep contributing. Really enjoying my cricket at the moment,” said Curran in the post-match presentation.
