The England cricket team led by Jos Buttler couldn’t fathom how they surrendered at the hands of the Afghanistan cricket team at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The Three Lions were beaten comprehensively by the Afghans, in what was the biggest upset in World Cup history, if not in the history of the sport. Afghanistan players ticked the boxes wherever required and eventually their hard work and persistence paid off as they earned a memorable win over England.
Batting first, Afghanistan accumulated 284 on the board, courtesy of pivotal contributions from Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ikram Alikhil, who scored 80 and 58 runs respectively. On the contrary, England’s Adil Rashid picked up 3 wickets, giving away 42 runs in his full quota of 10 overs. England batters lacked the killer instinct during the run-chase and were eventually bowled out for 215, losing the game by 69 runs.
Jos Buttler expresses his frustration after the team’s horrible defeat against Afghanistan
Earlier, the Afghans suffered two straight defeats at the hands of Bangladesh and India but they ensured to chip in with a disciplinary team effort against England to churn out their first win of this World Cup. On the contrary, England suffered two defeats against New Zealand and Afghanistan and their only win came against Bangladesh so far in the tournament.
Meanwhile, England captain Jos Buttler was not a happy man after his team were thoroughly outplayed by the Afghans. After the defeat against Afghanistan, Jos Buttler made an honest confession at the post-match press conference. He echoed that it was disappointing to leak too many runs after winning the toss. Furthermore, he added that his first ball miss down the leg side set the tone for Afghanistan to go about their work.
— Cricket Punter (@ImRahulCSK11) October 16, 2023
“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. 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,” England captain Jos Buttler said in a post-match presentation.
ALSO WATCH: Rahmanullah Gurbaz vents out frustration hitting a chair following his run-out
England players face an uphill battle to reach the top four in the group stage after suffering two defeats already. They will lock horns with dominant South Africa on October 21, Saturday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.