England’s Champions Trophy run has come to an embarrassing end.
An eight-run loss to Afghanistan sealed their fate, marking the first time since 2006 England had been eliminated at the group stage of the tournament.
The defeat also marked the fifth under Brendon McCullum as England’s white-ball coach, with the Kiwi yet to win a game since he took charge in September 2024.
Afghanistan’s victory was spurred on by opener Ibrahim Zadran’s heroic knock of 177 from 146 deliveries, smacking 12 fours and six sixes.
Zadran’s innings broke the record for the highest individual score in Champions Trophy history.
His efforts came just four days after England’s Ben Duckett set the record when he blasted 165 off 143 in a five-wicket loss to Australia last Saturday.
Duckett was unable to recreate the magic from Saturday’s contest, as he was dismissed for just 38 when a Rashid Khan delivery thudded into his pads.
Zadran was not alone in being the star of the show for Afghanistan, as Azmatullah Omarzai snared five wickets for 58 runs.
Omarzai claimed the wickets of Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Jamie Overton and Adil Rashid.
But none was quite as important as his dismissal of Joe Root.
Root, who entered with England sitting precariously at 30/2, watched four batting partners come and go as he continued to chip away at the 326-run target.
Despite constantly losing his man at the other end of the wicket, Root plodded along and eventually brought up a hard-fought century.
It was Root’s 17th century in ODI cricket and his first in the format since the 2019 World Cup.
However, his innings ended after 120 runs when he snicked an Omarzai delivery behind to leave England at 287/7.
The devastation on Root’s face was evident as he looked to the sky and trudged off the field.
With Root gone, England required 39 runs to win with just three wickets to spare.
But the tail of Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid and Mark Wood simply couldn’t get going.
The lower order mustered just 30 runs before Rashid skied an Omarzai delivery into the air and into the grateful hands of Zadran to end the contest.
Speaking after the contest, England skipper Jos Buttler rued a costly final 10 overs with the ball for his side that ultimately sparked their demise.
“Obviously out of the tournament is really disappointing,” Buttler said.
“I thought we had our chances in the game and was gutted to come out on the wrong side.
“I think Root played an unbelievable innings and we needed another one of the top six batters to stay with him for longer and take the game deeper.
“Root and Overton put on a great partnership there but in the last 10 overs it got away from us a bit.
“Credit to Ibrahim, he played a fantastic innings. If we look back and reflect 113 off the last 10 pushed Afghanistan up to a very good score on that pitch.”
Although they are eliminated from the Champions Trophy, England will look to save some face when they face South Africa in their final group game on Saturday.
