Ibrahim Zadran scored a record-breaking 177 and clinched Afghanistan their maiden victory in the Champions Trophy by defeating England by 8 runs. Apart from Ibrahim Zadran’s century, Azmatullah Omarzai’s five-wicket haul also played a vital role in the team’s historic victory.

Speaking of the match, Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bat first. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran opened the batting attack. Afghanistan made a terrible start by losing three wickets inside the first powerplay.

Archer dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz(6), Sediqullah Atal(4) and Rahmat Shah(4) and loaded pressure on the Afghan batting lineup. While Afghanistan was in need of a massive partnership, Ibrahim Zadran and Hashmatullah Shahidi made a 103-run stand and pushed Afghanistan to a better position.

Adil Rashid broke the partnership by dismissing Shahidi for 40 runs and brought England back into the game. But Azmatullah Omarzai for his part added 41 runs before being dismissed by Jamie Overton.

Again Mohammad Nabi and Zadran made a 100-plus run stand and pushed Afghanistan beyond 300 runs mark. With Ibrahim Zadran’s 177 runs, Afghanistan scored 177 runs from 146 deliveries and put England in command.

While chasing, England made an unimpressive start by losing their opening batter for just 12 runs. While England looked promising in chasing down the mammoth target, Azmatullah made an impressive bowling attack and dismissed Salt for 12 while England scored just 19 runs.

Soon Nabi dismissed Jamie Smith for nine runs and loaded pressure over the England batting lineup. For the third wicket, England made a 68-run stand. Rashid Khan broke the well-settled partnership by dismissing Duckett for 38 runs.

Though England lost wickets at one end, their star batter Joe Root stood strong on the other end and went on to score 120 runs in 111 deliveries. Without much contribution from teammates, Joe Root’s century went in vain as Afghanistan pulled a last over thrilling victory. With the 8-run defeat, England is officially eliminated from the tournament.

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