Key events
16th over: England 97-2 (Duckett 38, Root 32) England tick over to drinks. An intriguing first hour of the chase. Honours about even I reckon.
15th over: England 93-2 (Duckett 36, Root 30) Rashid Khan is still a little too short and Root and Duckett clip and nudge four runs off the first five balls. Khan wants to get out of the over cheaply but can’t as another short ball is dabbed away with aplomb by Root, in the gap and timed for four.
14th over: England 85-2 (Duckett 32, Root 25) A subdued atmosphere for the first time in the field for Afghanistan after the drop. Five added from the over as the partnership grows tentatively, as do England’s hopes.
Duckett is DROPPED at mid off! That could be a huge moment in the game as Shahidi spills a simple chance off the leading edge. Farooqi cannot believe it. That would have been England’s danger man back in the sheds.
13th over: England 80-2 (Duckett 30, Root 24) A loud cheer goes around the ground as Rashid Khan is announced over the Tannoy (brand name). Duckett swivels and times to perfection to beat the man on the square leg boundary. Khan zips the ball on but is a smidge too short and England are able to sit back and work into the gaps. Fifty partnership up off forty balls.
12th over: England 70-2 (Duckett 24, Root 20) Farooqi stitches together a neat over, mixing between full pace, slower balls and cutters to restrict England to just two singles.
11th over: England 68-2 (Duckett 23, Root 19) Four singles off Nabi and then some clever batting from Root, the fielder is moved fine at deep third before the final ball and Root immediately finds the gap with a reverse-sweep. Cat and mouse stuff in Lahore.
10th over: England 60-2 (Duckett 20, Root 13) Shot! Duckett drives on the up for four but Azmatullah nearly has the last laugh, running his fingers down the seam to take the pace off and foxing the pint-sized opener. Duckett is too early on the shot and almost plinks a simple catch to mid-on. That’s the powerplay done and dusted. Afghanistan can begin to put a bit more of a squeeze on with the fielding restrictions lifted.
9th over: England 54-2 (Duckett 15, Root 13) England hit back through Root and Duckett. The latter clubs a drive over mid on to get four off Nabi and then cuts for a single to bring up England’s fifty. Root then plays a delicious reverse-paddle for four more past fine leg. 326 still feels a long way away, these two need to build a sizeable partnership. Do I get a KLANG on the ‘obvious cymbal’?
8th over: England 43-2 (Duckett 7, Root 9) Root provides some more much needed relief for England by pinging Azmatullah off his pads for four.
7th over: England 39-2 (Duckett 7, Root 5) Nabi is looking to skid the ball into the pads and stumps. The win-predictor is now 87% in Afghanistan’s favour. Root hangs back and punches for four in fine style and takes a few deep breaths. A single to midwicket brings Duckett on strike.
Eeeesht! Nabi nearly has two wickets in over as Duckett lines up a slap through the off side but Nabi follows him as he backs away and the ball misses everything! Beats the keeper too and England get four extras. Deep breaths all round if you are an England supporter! Or try not to breathe at all. Quite hard that one, Michael Stipe.
WICKET! Smith c Azmatullah Omarzai b Mohammad Nabi 9 (England 30-2)
Gone! Jamie Smith charges Mohammad Nabi’s first ball and skews a simple catch to point. Inexperience from Smith against the wily old performer. Have a look, son! Joe Root arrives at the crease with England teetering.
6th over: England 30-1 (Duckett 7, Smith 9) Duckett scampers down to the non-striker’s end with a leg bye. He’s been starved of the strike so far in this innings, he’s only faced ten of the first 30 odd balls. Smith whips off his pads through midwicket for four with sweet timing and then gets a single down to third with a thick outside edge.
5th over: England 24-1 (Duckett 7, Smith 4) Jamie Smith is England’s number three and he takes guard with the win-predictor digging one into his side’s ribs – Afghanistan are 79% favourites apparently. That might bring it down a little! Smith square drives to the fence to get off the mark with a four.
WICKET! Salt b Azmatullah Omarzai 12 (England 19-1)
Uh-oh. A bad shot from Salt who aims a pull into the leg side but off a ball that was much too full, he misses and the ball trims the bails, sending them skywards like a pair of quizzical eyebrows. Afghanistan are cock-a-hoop!
3rd over: England 17-0 (Salt 11, Duckett 6) Salt gets an inside edge past the keeper for a single after clipping off the hip for a couple. Duckett whips for a brace into the leg side, his hands lower slung than a mid-noughties teenager.
2nd over: England 12-0 (Salt 8, Duckett 4) Azmatullah Omarzai from t’other end. England need to get as many as possible off the seamers in the powerplay, it’ll be trial by spin later on. Duckett gets his 1000th run in ODI cricket with a drive through cover for four. He’s England’s form player across all formats and is a prize scalp today.
1st over: England 8-0 (Salt 8, Duckett 0) 24 year old Fazalhaq Farooqi will start with new ball for Afghanistan. Phil Salt is on strike. Play!
The left-arm seamer bustles in and his first ball is a half volley that Salt slaps away through cover for four! A nerve settler for Salt and England. Farooqi comes round the wicket and cramps Salt for room but serves up a length ball with enough width for Salt to free his arms and clatter away for another boundary. Beaten! The bowler then gets it spot on with a ball that shapes away late and slides past Salt’s edge. A dot finishes the first over and there’s reasons to be cheerful for both sides. One, two, three.
Afghanistan’s players huddle on the boundary edge as the floodlights beat down. It’s a good pitch but the pressure is very much on England. Both sides need win to stay alive in the tournament.
Here come Ben Duckett and Phil Salt, how’s your ticker? Let the chase begin.
James Wallace
Thanks Daniel and hello everyone. The next few hours will prove very interesting. England have to show some bottle and dig deep here with both their tournament hopes and their captain’s job on the line. Afghanistan will have their tails up and this will not be easy. I have a feeling it won’t be pretty (for England) either.
He’s too modest to toot his own horn but have a read of Dan’s excellent Spin column whilst the players wolf down their energy bars. Reckon we’re in for a fifty over classic right here?
Daniel Gallan
With that I’ll get outta here.
Handing over to the wonderful James Wallace who will take you to the close.
I was bold in my prediction that England would walk this. Shows what I know. Or maybe their batters will prove me right?
We’ll all find out together.
Thanks for writing in, keep the love going for Jimbo.
“Just wondering Daniel whether its cowardly to pray for rain at this point in proceedings…”
That’s some classic English pessimism from Phil Rhodes.
Afghanistan post 325-7
The bogy language from the English players tells a story. They look dejected. They were in complete control at 25 overs when Afghanistan were crawling at 103-3. But a bewildering 177 from Ibrahim, and cameos in the 40s from Hashmat, Azmat and Nabi helped the underdogs post a formidable total. Livingstone final over bagged two wickets for two runs, but it felt like a small victory amidst the onslaught.
WICKET! Nabi c Root b Livingstone 40 (Afghanistan 324-7)
Livingstone has another! Maybe bowling the last over isn’t so hard? Nabi takes a wild swipe at the ball but can only spoon it high for Root who peddles backwards at deep midwicket to pouch it.
WICKET! Ibrahim c Archer b Livingstone 177 (Afghanistan 323-6)
One of the great ODI innings comes to an end. Livingstone, tasked with the job of bowling the last over, begins with a leg-break that Ibrahim slog-sweeps high and down to long leg. It doesn’t quite have the legs to clear the rope and Archer holds onto the catch. A truly remarkable knock. The young lad leaves to a standing ovation.
49th over: Afghanistan 323-5 (Ibrahim 176, Nabi 40) Overton bowls the penultimate over (who will bowl the final over?) and varies his lines and lengths and is therefore difficult to hit. That is until the fifth ball which lands in the slot and Ibrahim unleashes a mighty swing of the bat to record another six down the ground.
48th over: Afghanistan 309-5 (Ibrahim 167, Nabi 38) Ibrahim Zadran has just registered the highest score in Champions Trophy history and he got there by thwacking Archer’s slower ball for six. The cutters haven’t worked for Jof who closes out his 10 overs with 3-64. His final ball cracks Nabi on the helmet so we’ll have a concussion check which might give England a chance to breathe. They have been obliterated in these last 10 overs. This partnership of 97 has lasted just 48 balls.
Cricinfo’s Vithushan Ehantharajah has summed it up on X:
Hall of fame implosion, this. Stick it in a museum, sell prints in the gift shop for £60, mugs for £20
47th over: Afghanistan 299-5 (Ibrahim 159, Nabi 36) With Wood and Livingstone off the field, and with Rashid bowled out, Buttler has no choice but to toss the ball to Root. Nabi is all over him. The first ball disappears over the rope at midwicket and the second bursts through the hands of Salt at long leg. He should have caught that for my money but didn’t and it’s six more. Another misfield from Duckett at point sees it trickle for four more. England are falling apart! Nabi gets a single but that just brings Ibrahim on strike who caresses a full toss for four through the covers before paddling a couple down the leg side. 23 off that over, the most expensive of the innings.
46th over: Afghanistan 276-5 (Ibrahim 153, Nabi 19) Ibrahim brings up his 150 with one of four twos colelcted in the over. “An innings for the ages” says Ian Smith and I agree. One of the great knocks in recent memory. England look ragged and it’s more bad news as Livingstone limps off after tweaking something as he cut off a nudge towards long-on. 10 runs – all run – off the Overton over.
45th over: Afghanistan 266-5 (Ibrahim 144, Nabi 18) Rashid drags down and Nabi hoiks a pull down to cow corner where Root leaps, but can’t reach it. Six more to the score and the 50 partnership off just 26 balls. Four more singles and that’s Rashid done. 10-0-60-1. They played him well.
Onno Giller keeps the maths chat alive:
Hi Daniel,I think Alistair made a mistake, as to me the pattern (2-8-10-18) reads 2+8=10, 8+10=18, which would mean the next over would be: 10+18=28, not 8+10+18=36… at least that is my take on it!
Thanks for the over by over for those of us who don’t have Sky, best,
44th over: Afghanistan 256-5 (Ibrahim 142, Nabi 10) Wood limps off the field, perhaps for the last time, which places pressure on the rest of the England bowlers. Archer comes back into the attack and starts with a cutter that Ibrahim spots early and heaves over wide midwicket for six. Ibrahim slices a couple to a vacant deep point and then steers a full toss to the same spot for four. Grace and power both on show from Ibrahim. Another boundary from a slower ball, a late cut of the highest order. This is excellent batting. And another with a steered drive behind sqaure. Three fours, a six and the two add up to 20. Afghanistan are on top here.
43rd over: Afghanistan 236-5 (Ibrahim 122, Nabi 10) Ibrahim unfurls a wonderful shot for a one bounce four over Wood’s head. He gave himself a lot of room down the leg side, was followed by Wood, but still managed to stay inside the line to free his arms. It wasn’t a flourishing follow-through, more a checked bunt. All timing and it landed just inside the rope. What an innings this has been. Four singles, including a quick one that might have ended in a run-out had Brook hit the sticks from cover. Wood falls over again and grimmaces as he holds his knee. Why was he selected?
42nd over: Afghanistan 227-5 (Ibrahim 115, Nabi 8) Ibrahim swings Overton down to the deep and Archer is in business for a moment… but the lanky quick opts against the diver. Overton gives him a smile but would have wanted more effort from his mate. A wide and two more singles has Nabi on strike. He benefits from an overthrow from a wild chuck from Duckett to keep the strike and then carves away a cut shot over point for four.
Still stumped by the maths question from earlier?
Jaap Jacobs is here to help:
Alistair Connor refers to the pattern named after Leonardo Fibonacci, the famous thirteenth-century Italian cricketer.
41st over: Afghanistan 217-5 (Ibrahim 113, Nabi 1) Rashid is doing his bit. A lovely leggie beats Nabi’s bat. Just four runs off that over. It’s also the third powerplay so only five fielders allowed outside the ring.
WICKET! Azmatullah c Banton b Overton 41 (Afghanistan 212-5)
Overton breaks the partnership! His final ball of his comeback over is a slower cutter and Azmatullah isn’t quite there and he drags the shot wider than he’d have liked. Banton on the rope makes it look simple. It was a hard swing of the bat but caught the inside half of the toe.
40th over: Afghanistan 212-5 (Ibrahim 109)
Did you catch the pattern that Alistair Connor spotted?
I was going to predict 36 runs for over 39, but they went soft…Previous overs : 2-8-10-18, see a pattern ?
Am I dense (probably)? I’m not seeing it.
39th over: Afghanistan 210-4 (Ibrahim 108, Azmatullah 40) Rashid is back. A little flatter than he was before. There’s a half appeal for a run-out at the non-strikers end as Rashid tips Azmatullah’s bunt back onto the stumps. Ibrahim is safe, though. Just two singles swings momentum back in England’s favour momentarily.
38th over: Afghanistan 208-4 (Ibrahim 107, Azmatullah 39) WOW! Wood has been spanked for back-to-back boundaries by Azmatullah. The first is a flashing scythe over cover for four as he frees his arm to some width. The second is a mighty six back down the ground after a skip out his crease and a flat-bat smack. Belligerent! Wood responds with a searing yorker that crashes into Azmatullah’s foot. He hobbles down for a leg-bye but needs some treatment after copping the full force of that 92 mph missile.
That’s just the first three balls. An eventful second half of the set begins with a testing bouncer that Ibrahim spoons for a couple down to long leg before caressing a cover drive for four. The final ball is squeezed down to deep third for a single.
