PERTH: All-rounder Sam Curran's sensational five-for led England to a convincing five-wicket win over Afghanistan in a Super 12 match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 at Perth Stadium, here on Saturday.
Curran employed the short ball, alongside the occasional full delivery to great effect to remove Ibrahim Zadran, Usman Ghani, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, and Fazalhaq Farooqi and become the first cricketer from England to take a five-for in T20Is.
His historical performance helped England bowl out the Mohammed Nabi-led Afghanistan for a meagre total of 112 in 19.4 overs. Ibrahim (32) and Ghani (30), who played with a degree of confidence in tricky conditions, were the top scorers for Afghanistan.
As far as Curran's bowling spell is concerned, the pacer claimed the wicket of a well-set Ibrahim Zadran in the middle overs and then came back at the death to pick up four wickets and complete his five-for. He registered figures of 3.4-0-10-5 in the end.
In reply, England chased down the target with five wickets and 11 deliveries to spare. Liam Livingstone top-scored for his side with an unbeaten 29-ball 21, while Jos Buttler, Davin Malan and Alex Hales made scores of 18, 18 and 19 respectively.
For Afghanistan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rashid, Fareed Malik and Nabi shared the spoils while Rashid was the most economical bowler on show, finishing with 1 for 17 from four overs.
This win also gave England a significant boost in their NRR, which stands at +0.620 right now. Afghanistan fought well with the ball but this loss has left them with an NRR of -0.620 and they will need to work really hard to improve it.
Brief scores: Afghanistan 112 (Ibrahim Zadran 32; Sam Curran 5-10) lost to England 113/5 in 18.1 overs (Livingstone 29 not out; Rashid Khan 1-17) by five wickets. IANS
Also Watch: