England Exit ICC Champions Trophy after Afghanistan Loss

Posted on

White Cricket Ball Striking Yellow Wicket

After two games and two defeats, England have exited the ICC Champions Trophy. Jos Buttler’s side were, somewhat inexplicably in our view, third favourites to lift the cup before a ball was bowled. Of course, there are only eight teams involved, but even so, it seemed strange to price them behind only India and Australia given their woeful white-ball form over an extended period.

Our belief that they would struggle has proved well founded and defeats to Australia and then Afghanistan leave them bottom of Group B and pointless. They can no longer qualify and have joined Group A duo Bangladesh and host nation Pakistan in being eliminated after just two matches.

New Zealand and tournament favourites India have made it through to the semi finals with a game to spare in Group A. In England’s quartet things are a little tighter after Australia versus South Africa was abandoned due to the weather. In the final games England will play South Africa, whilst the Afghans will take on the Aussies, the latter game likely to be a winner-takes-all affair barring a massive win for England which could, in theory at last, see South Africa knocked out.

England Poor From Start to Finish

Whilst this England team has potential and could, maybe, provide a shock result in the last game, with the pressure off, it seems highly unlikely. Test head coach Brendon McCullum took over the reins in the white-ball format at the start of the year but he has been unable to repeat the instant transformation that he brought about with the Test side.

Buttler, whose time as ODI skipper is surely over, led England to a 3-0 series defeat in India and all of the matches were relatively one-sided. They have now lost eight of the last nine matches, having previously lost the series 2-1 in the West Indies. Before that, they were beaten 3-2 on home soil by Australia but their poor run stretches back much further.

They were poor at the 2023 World Cup, defending the title they won in England in 2019. Thrashed by New Zealand (by nine wickets) in the tournament’s curtain-raiser, they also lost to Afghanistan, by 229 runs against South Africa, by eight wickets to Sri Lanka and 100 runs against India, when they were dismissed for just 129. When all was lost they produced big wins over Netherlands and Pakistan but three wins from nine saw them finish seventh out of the 10 teams involved.

All of these results made it seem very strange that anyone gave them any real hope of causing a stir in Pakistan. Unlike the World Cup there are no easy games in the Champions Trophy and Buttler’s men knew a good result against Australia was vital.

They were unable to deliver, and despite posting what was then a tournament record score of 351/8, they looked short of runs on perhaps the best batting wicket in world cricket in Lahore. A late flurry of runs from Jofra Archer, who scored 21 from 10 balls, took them to a respectable mark but the consensus was that 380 would have been the sort of score they should have got.

Ben Duckett, who has had a strong tournament, as much as that can be said after two matches, anchored the innings with a brilliant 165 from 143 deliveries. Joe Root scored 68 but nobody else got going at all and England were unable to capitalise on an Australian bowling attack that, it must be noted, was missing their three main pace bowlers.

England started well with the ball and had the Aussies at 136/4 at one stage but as has been a recurring theme, they let their rivals off the hook. A magnificent innings from Leeds-born Josh Inglis took the game away from them, the keeper blasting 120 not out from just 86 balls. Alex Carey made 69 and Glenn Maxwell plundered 32 from just 15 balls to take the Australians to their record target with 15 balls and five wickets to spare.

Afghanistan Also Let off the Hook

Afghanistan Flag Waving Against Blue Cloudy Sky

Whilst we have said that England have been poor from start to finish, there have been moments in games when they have been on top but they have always failed to capitalise. After the defeat against Australia, their clash with Afghanistan was a must-win affair and having lost the toss Buttler’s team began well.

They reduced their opponents to 140/4 with almost 30 overs gone, having conceded just 11 runs from the first four. They lost Mark Wood to a knee injury but even so, the way in which their bowling fell apart was a real shock. For a long time they seemed set to restrict their opponents to a low score but opener Ibrahim Zadran began to cut loose and alongside 40-year-old all-rounder Mohammad Nabi he powered his side to a highly respectable score.

Nabi hit 40 from just 24 balls, to supplement Azmatullah Omarzai’s 41 (31 deliveries) and with Ibrahim’s incredible 177, a Champions Trophy record score, from just 146 balls, the underdogs posted 325/7. England had let a very good start slip, conceding a mammoth 108 from the last nine overs. It was a gettable score, in theory, but the momentum was with Afghanistan.

England made a steady start chasing and although they lost their second wicket in the seventh over, they progressed nicely enough to reach 97/2 for from 16 overs. Duckett and Root were going well and England were close enough to the run rate with the wickets they still had in the shed.

Duckett was then dismissed but England steadily rebuilt with Harry Brook looking in fine form … until he played a shocking shot to give an easy catch. He made 25 from 21 balls but then skipper Buttler came in and again played well. Then, yet again, just as England seemed to be in the ascendency, he was out, for 38.

The game went one way, then the other, all the while Root batted superbly at one end, despite struggling badly with cramp that made running between the wickets increasingly perilous. In the end he was dismissed for 120, with 39 still required and 26 balls left to get them. Jamie Overton hit 32 from 28 though and he seemed to have put England in a great position, even though the required run rate was hovering between nine and 10.

In the end it wasn’t to be though, with wickets continuing to fall at just the wrong time for McCullum’s beleaguered team. They needed just 17 from 14 when Overton holed out and Jofra Archer was then dismissed in the penultimate over of the match. England would be dismissed for 317 from the penultimate ball of the match, exiting the tournament in the process, with only pride now left to play for against a South African side unlikely to give them any respite.