England v Afghanistan World T20 - 5 Talking Points

The Afghanistan players won a lot of hearts in their last encounter against South Africa. Having restated it time and again, that they are here to beat the full member nations, Afghanistan took the field against England with high spirits. The English side, on the other hand, were high on confidence after their historic 230-run chase. However, they knew that this Afghan team should not be taken lightly.

England batsmen, who largely dominated in their previous game, had a horrid encounter at Delhi. Jason Roy fell cheaply and Mohammad Nabi got rid of James Vince and Eoin Morgan on consecutive deliveries in the 6th over. Joe Root could manage just 12 before getting run out. By the 9th over, England were seen struggling at 57/6. The chips were down but Moeen Ali rebuilt the innings with the tail and remained unbeaten on 41 to take England to a respectable score of 142/7.

Afghanistan had a miserable start in their run chase as they lost their key batsmen Mohammad Shehzad in the first over and skipper Asghar Stanikzai walked back to the pavilion in the next. Wickets kept tumbling like 9 pins, and half of the side was back in the dressing room inside 9 overs. With 39/5, Nabi and Shenwari put up a brief resistance but that was never enough for Afghanistan. The wicket of Nabi meant more misery. Zadran hit a couple of lusty blows to announce his arrival. None could be productive enough to take Afghanistan over the line as they fell short yet again and England survived the Afghan scare.

1. Absence of Hales and the Big Guns fail

Alex Hales missed the match with an injury and was replaced by James Vince in the side. His absence certainly didn’t help England. Hales is renowned to give them firing starts along with Jason Roy. English batting was jolted right back early in the innings as Roy was cleaned up by Amir Hamza for just 5 in the 3rd over. Joe Root, who played an absolute gem of an innings against South Africa, was unlucky to not back up his knock with another good one. He was run out for 12. The last over of powerplay saw Mohammad Nabi getting rid of James Vince (22) and bowled another beauty to clean up Eoin Morgan for a golden duck.

2. Moeen Ali rebuilds the Innings

England were staring right back at a low score with score being 85/7 in 14.3 overs. It all came down to Moeen Ali to add a few runs and be the saving grace for the team. Ali, who has even opened the innings for England before, showed that he is no child’s play with the bat. Coming in to bat in the 9th over, with England being 50/5, Ali started off slowly and then gained momentum to eventually anchor the innings to a decent score of 142. He was supported by Chris Jordan (15) and David Willey (20*). By the end of 20 overs, Ali remained unbeaten on 41 of just 33 balls with four boundaries and a six. The pitch at Kotla was a tricky one and the batsmen needed to apply themselves before going for the big shots. Ali did just that!

3. Afghanistan rocked back early

With 143 runs to chase for the win, Afghanistan fancied their chances to register their first win. But the English bowlers turned up an inch better and rocked back the Afghan top order. David Willey trapped the danger man Shehzad in the very first over and dismissed Gulbodin Naib for a duck in his next over. Skipper Stanikzai’s stay at the crease was cut short by Chris Jordan as he was dismissed on 1. Noor Ali Zadran and Rashid Khan put up a brief resistance before the English spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid got rid of them. Rashid caught and bowled Zadran for 17 while Ali got the wicket of Rashid Khan for 15. By the end of 9th over, Afghanistan were placed in no position to chase down this total with 39/5.

4. Brief inexperienced resistances

The Afghanistan batting was nothing but a display of brief resistances. Most of the key players got starts and tried to rebuild the innings, just the way Moeen Ali did for England, but none were successful in their efforts. Zadran and Rashid tried to help Afghanistan settle after 3 key wickets fell in the powerplay but soon both fell in quick succession. Nabi and Shenwari hit a couple of good shots and gave hopes to the Afghan fans, but yet again, Nabi lost his wicket to Adil Rashid. Najib Zadran came in and lived a moment of million hopes with a six and a four but unlucky to be run out soon after. The inexperience of Afghan players was on display as no batsman showed enough maturity to anchor the innings.

5. Pitch – spinners dominate the proceedings

As expected, the Kotla wicket turned out to be spinners’ den. Right from the first innings, the spinners had a major say in the match. Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan were exceptional in their identical spells of 2/17 in four overs. While Nabi choked the English top order with his off spin, Rashid dealt with the lower order. Shenwari also got some purchase from the track and got the key wicket of Jos Buttler. When Afghans came into bat, the English fast bowlers had already done a lot of damage to their top order. The spinners, when they arrived, made things worse. Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali started off with key wickets of Noor Ali and Rashid Khan, who were in pursuit of rebuilding the innings. Nabi looked like a threat but Adil Rashid got better of him and dismissed him for 12.

Though England won the game it wasn’t an easy victory – Eng v Afg World T20 Review: England dig deep to pull off a win at Kotla