England crash OUT of the Champions Trophy despite Joe Root century as they suffer eight-run defeat by Afghanistan after dramatic finish
Joe Root’s 17th one-day international hundred could not prevent England crashing out of the Champions Trophy, after losing to Afghanistan by eight runs in a floodlit thriller at the Gaddafi Stadium.
Jos Buttler’s team headed into the must-win Group B fixture with the captain himself acknowledging he felt under pressure for his job, but the gravity of the situation could not inspire a change in fortunes despite Root’s heroic efforts.
Instead, Ibrahim Zadran added to the list of opposition batsmen to have struck devastating, decisive hundreds against them in the first two months of 2025 following blitzes by the likes of Abhishek Sharma and Josh Inglis.
This was their 18th defeat in 25 matches since defending their world title 16 months ago, and elimination at the earliest possible opportunity adds another sorry chapter to the demise of English white-ball cricket.
Forty eight hours after giving Buttler’s under-fire leadership a resounding endorsement, Root engineered a chase of 326 by reaching three figures off 98 balls.
Cramping up, he opted to take running out of the equation with 58 required from 36 deliveries when he ramped left-armer Fazalhaq Farooqi for six to give England hope of staying alive until Saturday’s final group game against South Africa in Karachi.
Afghanistan held their nerve to beat England by eight runs in Lahore on Wednesday
Joe Root hit his 17th one-day international hundred to keep England in the hunt but it wasn’t enough
Jos Buttler’s side have lost six one-day internationals in a row and are out of the Champions Trophy
With the equation whittled down to 45 off 28, he somehow shovelled an Azmatullah Omarzai delivery from outside off stump to the fine leg boundary.
However, he fell two balls later for 120 when an Azmatullah cutter brushed his glove on the way through to wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
That left England 287 for seven, and although Jofra Archer struck two of his first three balls for four, alongside the set Jamie Overton, Azmatullah Omarzai closed out the innings to finish with five wickets, the last of which saw Adil Rashid caught from the penultimate ball.
More to follow…
