Lahore: Ibrahim Zadran’s majestic 177 and pacer Azmatullah Omarzai’s fifer trumped Joe Root’s masterful hundred as the brave Afghanistan registered a thrilling 8-run win to knock a largely-insipid England out of the Champions Trophy here on Wednesday.
England are winless after two matches and in their last league match in Group B they will face South Africa, who already have three points along with Australia.
Afghanistan now have two points and will have to beat the Aussies in their final group match to entertain the hopes of reaching the last-eight stage.
For a long time, England’s chase merely dragged along as the dismissal of Phil Salt and Jamie Smith jolted them early. They were 30/2 then, and eventually ended up at 317 all out with a ball to spare as pacer Omarzai (5/58) struck at crucial junctures.
But Root (120 off 111 balls) brought stability to England’s innings through two alliances, adding 68 runs with Ben Duckett (38), who was dropped on 29, for the third wicket and then an 83-run stand with skipper Jos Buttler for the fifth wicket.
They were not really blazing partnerships but kept England afloat, keeping them in the vicinity of the asking rate.
But the jettisoning of Duckett and Buttler prematurely curtailed those blossoming joint ventures, as Root had to shoulder the burden all by himself. Root’s was a clever innings, as he hardly hit any ball in anger but still managed a strike-rate close to 100, and at times above 100.
But there those little flourishes which are so central to a Root innings such as a reverse sweep four off wrist spinner Noor Ahmad or a scooped six behind wicketkeeper off Fazalhaq Farooqi.
He brought up his 17th ODI hundred with a single off Rashid Khan, and looked to stay on. But a rather tired ramp off pacer Omarzai ended in the gloves of keeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
But England had another willing soldier in Jamie Overton (32 off 28), who added precious 54 runs for the seventh wicket, but a feeble heave off Omarzai ended his stint.
It also marked the end of England’s journey in this tournament.
Earlier, Zadran’s remarkable innings helped Afghanistan pile 325/7. Zadran, whose 177 came off 146 balls, had solid support from skipper Hashmathullah Shahidi (40 off 67), with whom he raised 103 runs for the fourth wicket. With Azmatullah Omarzai (41 off 31), he milked 72 runs for the fifth wicket.
Brief scores: Afghanistan: 325/7 in 50 overs (Zadran 177, Omarzai 41, Nabi 40; Archer 3/64, Livingstone 2/28); England: 317 all out in 49.5 overs (Root 120, Duckett 38, Buttler 38, Overton 32; Omarzai 5/58, Nabi 2/58).