Afghanistan’s Mujeeb ur Rahman celebrates after picking up a wicket against England in Delhi. (Photo: AP)
Afghanistan ended a 14-match losing streak in the ODI World Cup on Sunday as they thrashed defending World Champions England by 69 runs to post their first-ever win in the tournament at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match No. 13 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The Afghans bundled out Jos Buttler’s side for 215 in 40.3 overs after posting 284 batting first.
Afghanistan mystery girl and social media influencer Wazhma Ayoubi cheered on her home side to a famous win. “Afghanistan defeats the current world champions by 69 runs. Congratulations to all of Afghanistan. Finally, we achieve our first World Cup win after a long wait. Well done #AfghanAtalan @ACBofficials. And a big thank you to all our Indian brothers and sisters cheering for Afghanistan today, Dhanyavaad,” Wazhma posted on social media platform ‘X’.
WATCH Wazhma Ayoubi celebrate Afghanistan’s World Cup 2023 win over England HERE…
Afghanistan defeats the current world champions by 69 runs. Congratulations to all of Afghanistan. Finally, we achieve our first World Cup win after a long wait. Well done #AfghanAtalan @ACBofficials ________________
And a big thank you to all our Indian brothers and sisters_ pic.twitter.com/LtzflPrEtx
— Wazhma Ayoubi __ (@WazhmaAyoubi) October 15, 2023
Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi were pick of their bowlers as they stunned the defending World Cup champions. The three Afghan spinners picked up 8 wickets for 104 runs to derail England innings.
“It is a very proud moment to be here in the World Cup and beating the champions. It’s a great achievement for the whole team, we worked hard for this day. We beat such a big team. It was a wonderful performance from the bowlers and the batters. As a spinner, it’s pretty hard to bowl in the powerplay, you have only two fielders outside. That’s something I’ve been working in the nets,” Mujeeb ur Rahman said after the win on Sunday.
England skipper Jos Buttler said that he was disappointed that his side conceded so many runs after he had won the toss and elected to bowl first in Delhi. “Disappointing to win the toss and concede that many, me missing that first ball down the leg side set the tone. Credit to Afghanistan, they outplayed us today. It came down to execution, we weren’t quite at the level we’d like to be with both bat and ball. They have some fantastic bowlers, the dew didn’t come in as much as we expected, the ball held up a bit too. They bowled dead straight and kept the stumps in play, we just weren’t quite good enough,” Buttler said in the post-match presentation.