T20 World Cup Sam Curran takes five wickets as England beat Afghanistan in opener BBC Sport
T20 World Cup Sam Curran takes five wickets as England beat Afghanistan in opener - BBC Sport Homepage
Job done and yes would have been nice not to have lost so many wickets too.
Albeit the lads did the damage with the ball in hand and fair play to Sam for his 5 wicket haul.61More replies (4)downJ
I can see the coverage is going to be challenging though. Shouting Aussie commentators, replays crammed into every available second between deliveries, endless lingering close up of screaming fans. At least no Sensodyne adverts though! It's like the producers set out to make it as annoying as possible to follow the game.133D
Massive pitch,slow outfield,a win is a win.80D
Tee Hee
Well done Sam61U
The only glitch for the Kiwis is KW, he ticks off way too many dot balls.10T
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By Matthew HenryBBC Sport in Perth Last updated on 7 hours ago7 hours ago.From the section Cricketcomments148ICC Men's T20 World Cup Group 1, PerthAfghanistan 112 (19.4 overs): Curran 5-10, Stokes 2-19, Wood 2-23; Ibrahim 32England 113-5 (18.1 overs): Livingstone 29*, Hales 19, Nabi 1-16England won by five wicketsScorecard England's bowlers set up a five-wicket victory over Afghanistan as Jos Buttler's side made a winning start to the T20 World Cup in Perth. Sam Curran took 5-10 - England's first five-wicket haul in men's T20s - in a complete bowling performance, which was backed up by a phenomenal display of catching. Curran claimed four wickets in six balls at the death after Mark Wood and Ben Stokes had taken two wickets apiece as Afghanistan were bowled out for 112 in 19.4 overs. As notable, though, was England's fielding - a fine high catch from Adil Rashid and a leaping one-handed grab by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler the highlights. England's batting order misfired in the chase, slipping to 97-5 against Afghanistan's spin-heavy attack, but the target was never likely to be defendable. Liam Livingstone ended 29 not out as England, semi-finalists in the 2021 World Cup and among the favourites again, won with 11 balls remaining. Earlier in the day, New Zealand stunned hosts and defending champions Australia in the same group. Their next game is against Ireland on Wednesday, followed by Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground two days later.Relive the best clips from England's win over AfghanistanEngland win game in the field
Their sloppiness with the bat will take some shine off the win but, after a week of shocks in the first group stage, England will simply be happy to avoid a similar fate against a dangerous Afghanistan side. The batting lacked a ruthless edge but their performance in the field was as good as any in recent memory. Wood began a spell of ferocious pace bowling - the fastest recorded at a T20 World Cup - by having Rahmanullah Gurbaz caught behind with his first ball to start the third over. After that, the clinic of catching began. First, Liam Livingstone sprinted round from deep cover before diving to cling on to see off Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Then Moeen Ali ran back to take one dropping over his shoulder from extra cover as Ibrahim Zadran - Afghanistan's highest scorer - was dismissed for a run-a-ball 32. The pick was Rashid's take. He ran back from mid-wicket to catch a skier from Najibullah Zadran out of the night's sky before captain Mohammad Nabi gloved one to the diving Buttler down the leg side off Wood. "We caught absolutely everything bar one speccy from Hales," Woakes told BBC Test Match Special. "That really helps us as bowlers and there was some great ground fielding as well. In the first half of the game, we couldn't have asked for much more."Curran continues to deliver
Playing in his first World Cup, Curran had one wicket for eight runs when he began the 18th over, with Afghanistan still holding some hope of boosting their total from 106-5. Ten balls later he had bettered England's previous best figures - Adil Rashid's 4-2 against West Indies in 2021. The 24-year-old all-rounder has quickly become England's go-to death bowler. Again, he impressively closed out the innings with slower-ball bouncers. "At the start of the game, I didn't expect to be walking off like that but it was a great performance by the boys," Curran said. Impressive too was Stokes, who bowled the first over and deserved his two wickets. Crucially, if the all-rounder performs with the ball it allows England to continue to play all seven of their big-hitting batters.England miss chance to boost net run-rate
At the start of the chase England would have hoped to win by a significant margin. In doing so they would have boosted their net run-rate, which could be important if they end up level on points with any other team at the end of this group stage. Instead they lost openers Jos Buttler and Alex Hales - both caught in the deep in the leg side - for 18 and 19 respectively. Hales had already been dropped twice by that point. The spinners then took hold and England were unable to hit their free-flowing form. Ben Stokes was bowled for two by Mohammed Nabi, who then caught Dawid Malan for a stodgy 18 from 30 balls off Mujeeb ur Rahman. Had Afghanistan taken those chances the game could have been different but realistically they never had enough runs. Livingstone hit three fours, showing glimpses of form on his return from injury which could prove crucial as England head to Melbourne to continue their quest for a second men's T20 World Cup title. Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi said: "It's not the best start to the tournament for us but we tried our best. We didn't get a good enough total on the board in the first innings and everyone knows England are one of the best T20 teams in the world. "The pitch was more suited to them as well but there weren't enough runs. I still think our boys played really well."commentsView Comments148Comments
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To use comments you will need to have JavaScript enabled. 148 commentsSComment posted by Stardust today at 19 53Stardust
19:53Well done Sam Curran. Progressing nicely.422SComment posted by Stardust today at 19 48Stardust
19:48Start with a win and Aus battered, good day all round.401LReply posted by lord obez today at 20 13lord obez
20:13to Stardust"Start with a win and Aus battered, good day all round."lord obez replied: Indeed, i just wish neutral matches were played in smaller stadiums. That Perth stadia looked nice but there was no atmosphere. Personally, if it was up to me, i'd make all ICC tournaments in England for obvious reasons.127More replies (2)down2Comment posted by 2hh6s2mt today at 20 152hh6s2mt
20:15Considering not one game of first class or List-A Cricket has ever been played in Afghanistan, I'd say they're doing alright, considering.381IComment posted by in5wknaa today at 19 40in5wknaa
19:40Afghanistan are a strong bowling side so although it’s not the blistering start we wanted, it is a win. NZ battered Aus so all in all it’s a good day301DReply posted by dunc brownley today at 19 47dunc brownley
19:47to in5wknaa"Afghanistan are a strong bowling side so although it’s not the blistering start we wanted, it is a win. NZ battered Aus so all in all it’s a good day"dunc brownley replied: Yes its a win and not an amazing run chase as had 11 balls spare though.Job done and yes would have been nice not to have lost so many wickets too.
Albeit the lads did the damage with the ball in hand and fair play to Sam for his 5 wicket haul.61More replies (4)downJ
Comment posted by J Felix-Languar today at 19 52J Felix-Languar
19:52Some people (not the pros) say that Sam Curran is a bits and pieces player. In T20, that is not always a bad thing. But these last few games he is starting to look like he is coming of age as a big game player.222DReply posted by Duncanb23 today at 19 54Duncanb23
19:54to J Felix-Languar"Some people (not the pros) say that Sam Curran is a bits and pieces player. In T20, that is not always a bad thing. But these last few games he is starting to look like he is coming of age as a big game player."Duncanb23 replied: if by 'some people' you mean all the non-Surrey fans on here, yes.102More replies (10)downWComment posted by WordtotheWise today at 20 52WordtotheWise
20:52Good start for England with sterner challenges to come. Kiwis look dangerous. With no highlights package on terrestrial TV ECB/ICC as usual missing the opportunity to grow the game of cricket to new viewers.180MComment posted by MJC today at 21 20MJC
21:20Buttler bashers get your thumbs down ready!He has been criticised a lot on here over the years for his keeping but he took an OUTSTANDING catch today and has improved his keeping a lot over the last 2 or 3 seasons150SReply posted by Spoondog today at 21 32Spoondog
21:32to MJC"Buttler bashers get your thumbs down ready!He has been criticised a lot on here over the years for his keeping but he took an OUTSTANDING catch today and has improved his keeping a lot over the last 2 or 3 seasons"Spoondog replied: In white ball Buttler or Bairstow are fine, but I'm pleased they've finally backed Foakes in the test side. Sangakkara rates him the best in the World & he knows a thing or two about keeping, and you need your best keeper in the longer format, rather than compromiseing on the keeping to fit in another all rounder.43More replies (6)down2Comment posted by 2hh6s2mt today at 20 092hh6s2mt
20:09Bring on the geriatric Aussies in their bath chairs.111WReply posted by William today at 22 14William
22:14to 2hh6s2mt"Bring on the geriatric Aussies in their bath chairs."William replied: Yep most of their team is mid 30s00More replies (1)downSComment posted by Spoondog today at 19 56Spoondog
19:56Good start to the T20 WC from England. Less so from the Aussies.I can see the coverage is going to be challenging though. Shouting Aussie commentators, replays crammed into every available second between deliveries, endless lingering close up of screaming fans. At least no Sensodyne adverts though! It's like the producers set out to make it as annoying as possible to follow the game.133D
Reply posted by Duncanb23 today at 20 01Duncanb23
20:01to Spoondog"Good start to the T20 WC from England. Less so from the Aussies. I can see the coverage is going to be challenging though. Shouting Aussie commentators, replays crammed into every available second between deliveries, endless lingering close up of screaming fans. At least no Sensodyne adverts though! It's like the producers set out to make it as annoying as possible to follow the game."Duncanb23 replied: Seemed fine to me. Maybe you're easily annoyed?92More replies (12)downWComment posted by why do i now need to register today at 19 41why do i now need to register
19:417 hours until a HYS opens???166IReply posted by in5wknaa today at 19 43in5wknaa
19:43to why do i now need to register"7 hours until a HYS opens???"in5wknaa replied: You’ve had a fun Saturday1611More replies (3)downDComment posted by DH today at 20 15DH
20:15Strange game. Potential banana skin out the way though. Hopefully beat Ireland then pretty much knock Australia out80SComment posted by saddletramp today at 19 52saddletramp
19:52I think the pitch was far more difficult than the "experts" said.Massive pitch,slow outfield,a win is a win.80D
Reply posted by Duncanb23 today at 19 56Duncanb23
19:56to saddletramp"I think the pitch was far more difficult than the "experts" said.Massive pitch,slow outfield,a win is a win."Duncanb23 replied: It was pretty comfortable in the end.11More replies (2)downSComment posted by SimonofSurrey today at 21 06SimonofSurrey
21:06Typical Surrey bias picking Sam Curran. Another anonymous performance today, I see.Tee Hee
Well done Sam61U
Reply posted by U18027890 today at 21 48U18027890
21:48to SimonofSurrey"Typical Surrey bias picking Sam Curran. Another anonymous performance today, I see. Tee Hee Well done Sam"U18027890 replied: Up the brownhatters!01JComment posted by jogon today at 20 28jogon
20:28Some great catching it must be said, they will have to motor on to win this against better opposition.50WComment posted by William today at 19 47William
19:47England look like a batting side who are very inconsistent. This might be their downfall in this competition. Bowling wise they’re very good!72DReply posted by Duncanb23 today at 22 44Duncanb23
22:44to William"England look like a batting side who are very inconsistent. This might be their downfall in this competition. Bowling wise they’re very good!"Duncanb23 replied: England's batting is arguably the best in the world and the bowling is effective if not exactly likely to set the purists purring. If we can consistently field well on top of that, things look very promising. Because often, our fielding has been dire.01CComment posted by cyram today at 20 43cyram
20:43The England batting might not have been great but, Malan aside, the top order were thinking about the net run rate. Fair enough.42SComment posted by splendidsparrow today at 21 34splendidsparrow
21:34The Aussies were brought down to earth after that massive thrashing at the SCG.The only glitch for the Kiwis is KW, he ticks off way too many dot balls.10T