In summary, then
So, if we’re going to be particulary reductive, we could say that the two pivotal events of that match were the 19th over of England’s innings, when Moeen and Willey properly cut loose, and the first over of Afghanistan’s, when the dangerous Shahzad was dismissed. They were always on the back foot – sometimes literally - from then on, and couldn’t build any threatening partnerships against seam bowling with which they were never particularly comfortable. They’ll be disappointed after their thrilling feats with the ball early in England’s innings.
Anyway, I’m off for some kind of lunch before returning to talk you through India v Bangladesh. Why not join me then? Thanks for your company and emails. Bye
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England win by 15 runs!
20th over: Afghanistan 127-9 (Shafiqullah 35, Shahpur 0), target 143
An edge for four off Stokes gets the over off to a promising start for Afghanistan, before another fiendish kite-invasion halts play. Tremendous mind-games from the kite there. Shafiquallah then mistimes a hook off a short ball and dobs up and lands safely but brings no run. Buttler then dives well to stop what would have been an inside-edged four, and the game is done. Stokes emphasises the point with a perfect-in-the-circumstances yorker. The batsman just can’t work him away now, knocking himself over with an attempted scoop that fails, before the final ball is hit nicely through the covers for four. A comfortable win in the end.
19th over: Afghanistan 119-9 (Shafiqullah 27, Shahpur 0), target 143
England’s penultimate over brought 25 runs. What can Afghanistan’s do? Not so much – it starts with a run out. Shafiqullah wants the strike and sends back Hamza, who’s run out. He cracks a four past Jordan down the ground to keep things ticking over though, making a wee dent in England’s NRR. The next one dents it further – a really magnificent six, Shafiqullah getting right underneath an attempted yorker and crisply hammering it straight over the sight screen. Shot of the innings, possibly. He keeps the strike with a single off the last ball – 24 needed from the last over. Just the six fours.
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Wicket! Hamza run out 1, Afghanistan 108-9
Hamza is sent back after setting off, Jordan breaks the stumps easily
18th over: Afghanistan 108-8 (Shafiqullah 16, Hamza 1), target 143
Willey, looking for reverse swing in the dewey evening light, finds some with a low full-toss that is pushed away for one before a clever scoop shot from Shafiqullah, at a weird full stretch, races down to the fine leg boundary for four. Afghanistan are actually ahead at this stage after that, which kind of shows how misleading “at this stage-ery” is. The rest of the over is pretty tight - two more singles is all.
17th over: Afghanistan 102-8 (Shafiqullah 11, Hamza 0), target 143
Samiullah carves Stokes past mid-on for four to start the over but the bowler’s response is smart, an in-slanting yorker that can only be dug out for one run. Then – another review! – after a sharp accurate throw from backward point clatters the stumps but Shafaq is comfortably in this time. The reprieves don’t last long though as Samiullah miscues and is caught. Shafaq then gets away with another mistimed slog that lands between fielders in the deep and brings two runs. And the over ends with an Afghan flourish, Shafiqullah pulling over midwicket for SIX.
Wicket! Samiullah c Root b Stokes 22, Afghanistan 94-8
Ouch. Samiullah really doesn’t get hold of this, swiping wildly at a wide one outside off stump and only toe-ending it up in the air to Root at cover.
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16th over: Afghanistan 88-7 (Samiullah 17, Shafaq 2), target 143
Jordan returns to the attack after a decent first stint, and cramps up Samiullah nicely, restricting him to a chopped single down to deep backward point. Najib digs out a yorker to mid-off for another one, which all suits England fine. What suits England even finer is the run-out that follows, after Jordan throws down the stumps at the non-striker’s end as Najib’s bat looks to have bounced back in the air after he’s dived to ground it. A lengthy review concludes that bat is in the air as ball strikes stumps. Samiullah adds a single and Shafaq gets off the mark with two but this game is done now, and it’s all very quiet in the ground.
Wicket! Najib run out 14, Afghanistan 85-7
After a lengthy review, Najib’s bat is deemed to have been in the air when Jordan’s throw hit the stumps.
15th over: Afghanistan 83-6 (Samiullah 15, Najib 13), target 143
A first bowl for Stokes, and he starts with a single followed by a soft wide. Another single is dabbed down to third man before a crisp Samiullah drive the deserves to bring more than one. Then – review! – Najib has to dive as Morgan direct-hits. A review confirms that the batsman made his ground though. Six from the over, which was a tad on the loose side but goes relatively unpunished. Afghanistan need exactly two per ball now.
“I think we’ve gone quiet because, well, we don’t really want England to win this one,” pipes up Bc Cvav through the eerie silence. “Especially not like this, not after that bowling.”
John Starbuck meanwhile is stat-quirk hunting: “Before this match began, the possibility existed of Rashid taking Rashid’s wicket, with the reverse happening in the next innings. It must be quite common at the village cricket level, but has it been done in first class/international games?”
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14th over: Afghanistan 77-6 (Samiullah 12, Najib 11), target 143
Moeen returns to the attack, replacing Plunkett who finished with superb figures of 4-1-12-0. Samiullah takes a single before Najib – the first left-hander in the lineup – adds a rare four to the total, pulling a short delivery to the square leg boundary for four. A couple more singles ensue before Najib thinks big, and hits big, thumping Moeen against the spin for a massive six over long-on.
13th over: Afghanistan 64-6 (Samiullah 10, Najib 0), target 143
Samiullah shapes to cut a wide ball from Rashid on the offside before realising that it’s set to be called wide, and then leaves it. A wide is duly signalled. Samiullah then does cut on the offside, taking two comfortably, before adding a hurried single. Nabi wants more though, but his attempt to go over the top fails, as he holes out to Jordan.
Wicket! Nabi c Jordan b Rashid 12, Afghanistan 64-6
Just as these two had started looking comfortable, Nabi holes out to Jordan at long-on.
12th over: Afghanistan 60-5 (Nabi 12, Samiullah 7), target 143
Samiullah takes a single with a nervous flick off his hips from Plunkett before Nabi plays a similar short ball rather better, steering it down to third man for one. Plunkett concedes a wide with a stray delivery down legside before three more singles follow. They’ve played pace better in this over than in any of the previous ones – unfortunately for them, they now need to start hitting out a bit.
11th over: Afghanistan 54-5 (Nabi 10, Samiullah 4), target 143
Samiullah cuts Rashid for a single before Nabi opens up nicely to cut in front of square on the offside for two. The next ball – a beautiful top-spinner – is spilled by Buttler but Nabi looks more comfortable next ball, which he meets on the full and absolutely leathers it straight over the bowler’s head into the stands for six.
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10th over: Afghanistan 45-5 (Nabi 2, Samiullah 3), target 143
Plunkett switches ends to rejoin the attack. Samiullah dabs a single, Nabi clips on the legside for another before Plunkett slightly strays on the legside and concedes two leg-byes down to fine leg. One more single completes a low-key over. Afghanistan’s run rate required is now almost 10 an over. They won’t get near.
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9th over: Afghanistan 40-5 (Nabi 1, Samiullah 1), target 143
Adil Rashid comes into the attack and concedes his first runs with a forcefully-driven two from Noor. A nudged single follows before Rashid gets in on the act, taking a simple return catch. It’s funny how the emails dry up when England get on top - England cricket fans there, in a nutshell, the only supporters to whom “It’s all gone quiet over there” is most appropriately chanted when their team are actually on top.
Wicket! Noor c and b Rashid 17, Afghanistan 39-5
And another one. This is becoming a procession, Noor miscueing a simple return catch to Rashid.
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8th over: Afghanistan 35-4 (Noor 14, Nabi 0), target 143
“Early spin for England,” chirps David Lloyd in the commentary box, though I’m not sure the eighth over of a T20 international in India counts as “early”. Anyway, Moeen’s on and Rashid is gagging to come down the pitch at him: he drives a single before Noor picks up two with a squirt towards third man, benefiting from an Adil Rashid misfield. Another couple of singles follow before Moeen strikes, Rashid paying the penalty for trying to cut loose and mistiming his drive.
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Wicket! Rashid c b Moeen 15, Afghanistan 35-4
Moeen strikes, Rashid – who had been looking settled – tries to cut loose and cracks it straight to Morgan at extra cover.
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7th over: Afghanistan 31-3 (Noor 11, Rashid 14), target 143
Plunkett comes on at the other end, and concedes his first run from a dabbed Noor single. Rashid adds two more ones and his partner another in a tight over. Plunkett’s bowling really well here and Afghanistan must be longing for some spin-bowlers they can attempt to tuck into.
6th over: Afghanistan 28-3 (Noor 10, Rashid 12), target 143
Rotate, rotate, rotate. Jordan returns to the attack, and Noor dabs down to third man for a single. Rashid then takes advantage of the width Jordan had hitherto not offered by flat-cutting for six, but there’s proper seam movement here and it bamboozles Rashid in the follow-up ball, a fine awayswinger. A cut down to third man for a single completes the over.
5th over: Afghanistan 20-3 (Noor 9, Rashid 5), target 143
These bowlers are finding some pace and bounce here, and Noor has to awkwardly fend one off his hips from Willey, but manages a single out of it. A rather easier single in the same legside area follows for Rashid. Afghanistan coach Inzamam, interviewed mid-over, rues his side’s struggles in pressure situations against big teams but stresses the importance of actually playing them in the first place. Two overs of parsimony are brought to a halt when Rashid plays a clever upper cut off a short ball and it’s lofted down to the third man boundary for four.
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4th over: Afghanistan 13-3 (Noor 7, Rashid 0), target 143
With Afghanistan discomforted by pace bowlers, Morgan swaps one for another, bringing on Plunkett, who induces some horribly uncertain playing and missing outside off stump from Rashid with some fine testing seam bowling. A maiden. Afghanistan are all over the place now.
3rd over: Afghanistan 13-3 (Noor 7), target 143
Noor gets a single as Willey continues. A kite on the field delays play but doesn’t upset Willey’s rhythm, which is probing and tight for four dot balls, and prompts Gulbadin to lash out at a shorter ball and it’s hacked up to cover where Stokes takes a simple catch. So far the story seems to be that England couldn’t really cope with Afghanistan’s preferred style of bowling, and vice versa.
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Wicket! Gulbadin c Stokes b Willey 0, Afghanistan 13-3
England are turning this round emphatically. Gulbadin dollies up an easy catch to Stokes on the offside.
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2nd over: Afghanistan 13-2 (Noor 6, Gulbadin 1), target 143
Chris Jordan needs a good performance here after Mumbai, and he’s let down first ball by the poor fielding of others, a rash throw from Jason Roy to the non-striker’s end with no one backing up behind the stumps brings two overthrows. Noor slashes and misses at a wide one before fending off a better shorter ball down behind square on the offside for a single. Jordan stays generally just back of a length, forcing Stanikzai to be defensive, and that line works, as Stanikzai timidly edges the next one to Root at slip. England have two big scalps.
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Wicket! Stanikzai c Root b Jordan 1, Afghanistan 12-2
And now the captain goes, a standard-issue edge to slip from a decent back of a length ball.
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1st over: Afghanistan 9-1 (Noor 3, Stanikzai 1), target 143
So England, with their much more seam-heavy attack, open unsurprisingly with Willey, their second-best batsman earlier. He finds an edge with a good probing delivery … which is squirted down to the third man boundary for four. Shahzad wants to have a go, as per, though Willey hems him in nicely, and it pays off. A fine piece of swing bowling traps Shahzad leg-before. He’s not happy but it looks plum enough, as replays confirm. Asghar Stanikzai tucks his first ball away towards midwicket for one, and Noor then plays an elegant textbook cricket shot away on the offside for two. Willey slightly spoils a fine over of new-ball seam bowling with a wide down the legside. Noor clips the final ball of the over away for one. Plenty of runs from that over, but the wicket that fell in it feels more significant.
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Wicket! Shahzad lbw b Willey 4, Afghanistan 4-1
Willey strikes in the first over, and picking up the dangerman with an inswinger that thumps into Shahzad’s pad. Perfect start.
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Sam Hedges chips in with a particularly English take on the late-innings fightback: “That’s just perfect isn’t it ... show them it is possible to clump/slog/smash the ball on this wicket. Could we not have ended the innings painfully slowly and brought on the fear about the track / conditions? Afghanistan to win by 4 wickets in 14 overs.”
The players are about to take the field again.
So, who says you need 180+ scores to make T20 cricket compelling? That was fascinating stuff in what looks to be a finely-balanced match now, England’s much-vaunted batting depth digging them if not completely out of a hole, then at least giving them a decent sight of daylight. I’ll be back in a bit for Afghanistan’s chase.
Innings complete: England 142-7, 20 overs
20th over: England 142-7 (Moeen 41, Willey 20)
Shahpur loses his radar at the start of the final over, sending a wide hurtling down to legside. Moeen toe-ends a single before the keeper Shahzad does well to prevent four leg byes, diving smartly to his right to cut it off. Another one follows before Moeen opens his shoulders and cracks a four over mid-off. A pull to the fielder at square leg brings another single before Willey flicks down to fine leg for one more that puts Moeen on strike for the final ball of the innings. He tries to thump it past mid-off but only finds the fielder, and takes only one. So a fine, perhaps tournament-saving partnership, reaches 57 unbeaten. This may yet prove a competitive total.
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19th over: England 132-7 (Moeen 34, Willey 19)
Now has this changed things? England go on the charge at last. A rare thing – a proper slog – from Ali off Hamza, a hearty clump on the onside but it still doesn’t reach the ropes, yielding only two. An even rarer thing follows – a six! – from a similar hoik on the legside. He then belts Hamza over his head for four before making a hash of a reverse-sweep that brings only a hurried leg-bye. Willey then enters the spirit of things, hitting one right in the slot straight down the ground for six more. Emboldened, he thumps another one, this one sailing into the “crowd” on the midwicket boundary. This partnership is now 47.
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18th over: England 107-7 (Moeen 22, Willey 7)
Pace returns to the attack in the form of Shahpur, whose run-up feels reminiscent of Shoaib Akhtar. Will that help England? Yes, Moeen opening his body up a little and flicking down to the fine leg boundary for four. Shahpur has a very optimistic lbw shout next ball but it looks to be speared in well beyond leg stump and a leg bye is taken, although hang on – replays show it hitting the top of leg stump. Four more singles follow.
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17th over: England 98-7 (Moeen 16, Willey 5)
Rashid continues – another bowler who’s got plenty about him – and concedes four singles, and nothing more. “I’m puzzled,” head-scratches Ravi Raman. “The pitch isn’t a spinning track, the Afghan bowlers aren’t especially penetrating and yet six established batsmen claimed by spinners! Work that out.” They’ve been accurate and canny and understand the conditions, which might be enough.
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16th over: England 94-7 (Moeen 14, Willey 3)
Willey takes a hurried single off Nabi, bowling his final over, before Moeen – who feels as if he’s been in for hours – edges past the keeper for four. Another couple of singles follow. The ball hasn’t turned enormously here, but England have struggled with the slow pace and with the bounce, and with bowling that hasn’t offered them easy pickings. Getting past 100 might be important here, you never know.
15th over: England 87-7 (Moeen 9,Willey 1)
Rashid returns at the other end and Jordan punishes a shorter ball, pulling it to the long-on boundary for four with some authority. But such assertiveness doesn’t last long, as Rashid takes a sharp caught and bowled chance and England are seven down. Willey – who can bat in domestic T20 as we all know - plays out his first three balls (one of which is a wide) before clipping with the spin on the legside for a single.
“Clearly the management predicted this farcical 90s-esque collapse, and in recognising that we will all need to bat today, left Topley out,” writes Andrew Benzeval, holding a very large straw. “Very sensible. How many teams have an 11 where almost every member has a first-class hundred (and it’s only Jordan who hasn’t, with a best of 92)? This is very, very fine planning from England…”
Wicket! Jordan c and b Rashid 15, England 85-7
Thought there hadn’t been a wicket for, ooh, at least a few overs, so Jordan chips back to Rashid and the spinner takes the catch comfortably.
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14th over: England 81-6 (Moeen 9, Jordan 11)
Nabi comes back into the attack, and Jordan chips a straight drive for a single. Moeen square-drives for one. Neither batsman can find room to play expansively but Jordan gets four anyway when a whip off his legs is slightly mistimed but runs down to the fine leg boundary courtesy of a rather inelegant misfield. One more single ensues.
13th over: England 74-6 (Moeen 8, Jordan 5)
Moeen flicks Samiullah away on the legside for one before a completely wild delivery – an exceedingly rare thing so far – flies out of the bowler’s hands all wrong and goes wide down the legside and past the keeper for four wides. Then there’s three more singles. You could set up a picnic table in front of the boundary ropes at the moment and munch away undisturbed.
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12th over: England 65-6 (Moeen 6, Jordan 3)
More singles here than a karaoke bar full of divorcees at closing time, Moeen turning Rashid square on legside for one before five more dots ensue. Are England just batting out the innings here, digging in in a throwback Gavaskar/England’s openers at the 1979 World Cup final style here?
11th over: England 64-6 (Moeen 5, Jordan 3)
Samiullah continues and yields another single to Moeen first up. Jordan pushes a single round the corner, falling over in the process but recovering to complete the run, which feels like progress. They’re just getting them in ones at the moment, Moeen pushing another. Five from the over. Afghanistan are completely on top of this match in every way at the moment.
“I’m not happy, but slightly comforted by England’s return to type,” writes Sam Hedges. “After Friday’s record win over South Africa, I thought England might be about to do something special. Now they’re showing how ‘special’ they really are.” Ian Copestake, meanwhile, wonders whether 50 might actually be a good score. Optimism like that is certainly special too.
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10th over: England 59-6 (Moeen 2, Jordan 1)
Rashid Khan comes into the attack to replace the current hero Nabi. His first ball is dropped too short and pulled to the midwicket boundary by Stokes for four, which feels like massive respite. But not for long: Stokes is bowled next ball, and looks both furious with himself and completely nonplussed. Jordan gets off the mark with a single, and Moeen adds another but that’s it. We’re halfway through the innings and Chris Jordan is in.
Right now, the ICC will be convening an emergency meeting to restructure the World T20 mid-tournament, to prevent the money-making proper cricket nations being shown up by the upstarts.
“Why is Barney so harsh on England?” quips Ravi Rahman. Zing!
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Stokes b Rashid Khan 7, England 57-6
And another. Stokes misses one that keeps low, bottom-edging onto the stumps.
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8th over: England 53-5 (Stokes 3, Moeen 1)
Another one goes straight off, Buttler taken brilliantly by Nabi low to his left. So, England’s emphasis on batting right down the order might come into play now. A wide outside off stump follows but otherwise it’s really tight and Moeen can’t score until the fifth ball of the over, a full toss flicked away square on the legside for one. Stokes hacks away on the onside for one more from another absurdly inexpensive over.
Wicket! Buttler c Nabi b Samiullah 5, England 50-5
Superb catch! Taken low at cover and a real dangerman is gone. This is astonishing.
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8th over: England 50-4 (Stokes 2, Buttler 6)
Nabi continues, as well he might. Stokes pushes a single before Buttler almost drags on when a mistimed reverse sweep cannons into his pads. Nabi is tying him down nicely here, bowling two more dots before inducing a low thick edge to backward point for a single. So no wickets and two runs conceded from that over – a clear deterioration from his first.
7th over: England 48-4 (Stokes 1, Buttler 5)
Samiullah Shinwari comes on, and Buttler is off the mark with a calm drive for a single, calm drives being what is required at the moment. Stokes does likewise, as England look to steady themselves after the madness of the previous over. Buttler then digs out a half-volley and creams it through the covers for four without even looking as if he’s trying. Six from the over isn’t much to write home about in a T20 international but England will take that.
Wicket! Root run out 12, England 42-4
6th over: England 42-4 (Stokes 0)
Sensational stuff – England collapse. Mohammad Nabi, the right-arm off-break bowler, replaces Shahpur and is turned round the corner for a single first up by Root. Vince is then bamboozled by a ball that turns in sharply past him and leg-stump. He’s even more foxed by the next one, whose pace (or lack of) he misreads and chips back for a simple caught and bowled. It gets better for Afghanistan, when Nabi bowls Morgan first ball. What was the captain thinking? The hat-trick ball raps Stokes low on the pad, prompting exaggerated excited appeals, but it’s outside the line. Terrific stuff from the spinner. And then – more chaos: Stokes flicks away, Root sets off like a train from the non-striker’s end and is sent back. He’s out of his ground but the bowler looks to have made a hash of breaking the stumps, prompting a review, which falls in Afghanistan’s favour. Root is gone.
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Morgan b Nabi 0, England 42-3
The captain goes first ball! He opted to leave a ball drifting in to him, not spinning greatly, and it takes the top of off-stump. Scenes, as they say.
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Wicket! Vince c and b Nabi 22, England 42-2
Nabi has the measure of Vince and snares him when he induces a leading edge that is chipped straight back at him.
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5th over: England 41-1 (Vince 22, Root 11)
The excellent Hamza, who went for only seven off his first two overs, is kept in the attack but suffers this time as England raise the tempo. His tight offside in-field is properly pierced for only the second time, Vince cutting for four. A single follows before Root reverse-ramps – if that’s the technical definition – past the keeper’s right shoulder for four more. Beautifully read and beautifully played. He adds a single, which enables Vince to reprise his cut in front of square on the offside for four more.
4th over: England 27-1 (Vince 13, Root 6)
Shahpur concedes a straight-driven four early in his over again, this one from Vince, who’s looking assured already, and who clips the next ball to midwicket for a single. Root can’t get Shahpur away, who’s maintaining a decent line and not giving the batsman room, and three dot balls ensue before the casually superhuman hero of Mumbai rocks back and pulls it into the crowd for SIX to get off the mark. A measure of the man.
More on that low crowd, and we’ve been here before:
3rd over: England 16-1 (Vince 8)
Hamza drops a fraction short and Vince expertly chips him over the in-field on the offside for four. The comeback ball is quicker, missed by Vince and missed by the keeper Shahzad, who should have taken that cleanly for a stumping. A toe-end for a single to mid-on ensues before Roy is cleaned up, heaving at Hamza and missing. Most in the crowd are delighted.
Wicket! Roy b Hamza 5, England 16-1
Roy swings and misses and gives Hamza a deserved scalp at the end of his second over.
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2nd over: England 11-0 (Roy 5, Vince 3)
Pace at the other end, with the left-armer Shahpur bowling second, and Vince drives his first ball to mid-off for a single. Roy hacks outside off-stump and it cannons off his pads down to fine third man, where the ball is just about cut off – TV replays confirm – before the fielder Rashid Khan hits the ropes. Vince adds another single before Roy records the first boundary of the day with a glorious straight drive along the deck for four. The crowd is sparse but mostly Afghanistan-supporting.
1st over: England 2-0 (Roy 1, Vince 1)
Afganistan open with spin. Hamza, the left-arm spinner, starts us off. The ball’s skidding on but not bouncing or spinning greatly, and it’s a fine, tight first over. Roy drives the first ball to mid-off, where the ball is well fielded by Naib, for one run off the first ball. Vince can’t quite get hold of his first ball faced, grubbing it back to the bowler. Two more dots follow before Vince chops towards mid-on and hurries through for a single. And that’s all.
“Re; anthems,” writes Christopher Dale. “I’m not sure there’s an international sport with a worse standard of anthem than cricket. “Rally round the West Indies” is a particular nadir.” Given the Caribbean’s musical heritage, it’s certainly a disappointment.
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The players are out and they’re doing the national anthems. I kind of wish they wouldn’t bother - national anthems in cricket just aren’t, well, cricket, in my humble opinion. Anyway, Afghanistan’s is inevitably jauntier and more upbeat than England’s, as most are.
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“Not counting the chickens,” writes Krishnan Patel from beside a coop, with an abacus, “but by what margin should England beat Afghanistan to catch up to South Africa in terms of net run rate? And though Morgan clearly stated otherwise, do you think they should be more gung-ho in their approach to increase NRR?” I think it’s perfectly understandable to not stress publicly on net run rate when you’re focusing on just beating competitive opponents. And in any case, you don’t have to say you want to increase NRR to be intent on doing just that. We are none of us judged by our ramblings in press conferences, thankfully.
So England still have four seamers, and only three spinners if you include Root, on an apparently prodigiously turning track, with Dawson kept out. A gamble?
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Team news
Alex Hales is out for England with back knack, replaced at the top of the order by James Vince, and Reece Topley misses out for Liam Plunkett, paying the penalty for a bit of a wobbly showing against South Africa.
The teams in full:
England: Jason Roy, James Vince, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett.
Afghanistan: Mohammad Shahzad, Noor Ali Zadran, Asghar Stanikzai, Shafiqullah, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shenwari, Gulbadin Naib, Najbullah Zadran, Amir Hamza, Rashid Khan, Shapoor Zadran
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England win the toss and bat
Eoin Morgan has no hesitation, estimating a slower track than in Mumbai for the South Africa run-glut. Stanikzai would have batted first too, he says.
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Preamble
Morning/afternoon everyone, and welcome to this ‘Big Three’ member v Associate clash that is pretty pivotal for both, unlike the previous meeting between England and Afghanistan in an international tournament, last year’s stultifying nonevent at the World Cup when an eliminated and demoralised England won a rain-shortened dead rubber against an eliminated but somewhat perkier Afghanistan. Then, England still had Ian Bell, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad in their limited-overs team – that’s how long ago this was, pre-New Brand Of Cricket and all that. Not that victory is assured for England today – New Brand England still involves being eminently beatable in all sorts of circumstances, as we have seen a fair bit recently.
And Afghanistan have played some compelling cricket in this tournament. That it needed the special T20 magic and talent of Dilshan and De Villiers to properly put both their Group One games beyond them is perhaps its own tribute to their performances. Mohammad Shahzad in particular has been batting with as much swagger as more celebrated opening batsmen in this tournament. So you’d think that, if cricket was blessed with administrators that wanted to broaden and develop the game, an emerging watchable team like this might be given more chances on the game’s big stages. But this is the ICC, and this is not how we do business, and business is the operative word here. It’s all about the money, and the associates are being closed out.
But never mind this whizz-bang, hit-and-giggles, forgettable T20-length Afghan-praising preamble, you can read a more complex, in-depth Test match-tone appreciation of Afghanistan’s rise in Andy Bull’s splendid piece for The Spin below:
Anyway, today’s match is likely to be as much about spin as belligerent batting, and responsibility will fall on the likes of England’s Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid to finally get going, and, for Afghanistan, their much-touted young leg-spinner Rashid Khan and more seasoned figures such as Mohammad Nabi. Liam Dawson could even get a go here. I’m looking forward to this, so should you, and on the subject of the associates, here’s a pre-match tune that has nothing to do with short-form cricket, as far as can be discerned:
The match starts at 9.30am (GMT).
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