In the 8th match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 played at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Afghanistan created history by registering a fantastic 8-run win against England. Batting first, Afghanistan scored a huge score of 325/7, in which Ibrahim Zadran played a tremendous innings of 177 runs.
In response, England’s Joe Root scored a brilliant 120 runs, but the Afghan bowlers showed amazing performance in the last overs and blanketed England for 317 runs. With this win, Afghanistan strengthened its position in the tournament.
In the 1st Inning Ibrahim Zadran’s blast, Afghanistan scored 325 runs!
Afghanistan’s innings started badly, but Ibrahim Zadran played a historic innings of 177 runs and brought the team to a strong position. Apart from this, Azmatullah Omarzai (41) and Mohammad Nabi (40) added runs quickly and took the team to a big score of 325.
Top scorers of Afghanistan:
- Ibrahim Zadran – 177 runs (146 balls, 12 fours, 6 sixes)
- Hashmatullah Shahidi – 40 runs (67 balls, 3 fours)
- Azmatullah Omarzai – 41 runs (31 balls, 1 four, 3 sixes)
- Mohammad Nabi – 40 runs (24 balls, 2 fours, 3 sixes)
- Rahmanullah Gurbaz – 6 runs (15 balls)
Best bowlers of England:
- Jofra Archer – 10 overs, 64 runs, 3 wickets
- Liam Livingstone – 5 overs, 28 runs, 2 wickets
- Jamie Overton – 10 overs, 72 runs, 1 wicket
- Adil Rashid – 10 overs, 60 runs, 1 wicket
- Mark Wood – 8 overs, 50 runs, 0 wickets
In the counter inning Joe Root’s brilliant century, but England collapsed at 317 runs!
England started well while chasing the target, but wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Joe Root (120) hit a fighting century, but the rest of the batsmen could not support him. In the last overs, the Afghan bowlers made a strong comeback and England had to face defeat by just 8 runs.
England’s top scorers:
- Joe Root – 120 runs (111 balls, 11 fours, 1 six)
- Ben Duckett – 38 runs (45 balls, 4 fours)
- Jos Buttler – 38 runs (42 balls, 2 sixes)
- Jamie Overton – 32 runs (28 balls, 3 fours)
- Harry Brook – 25 runs (21 balls, 3 fours)
Best bowlers of Afghanistan:
- Azmatullah Omarzai – 9.5 overs, 58 runs, 5 wickets
- Mohammad Nabi – 8 overs, 57 runs, 2 wickets
- Gulbadin Naib – 2 overs, 16 runs, 1 wicket
- Rashid Khan – 10 overs, 66 runs, 1 wicket
- Fazalhaq Farooqi – 10 overs, 62 runs, 1 wicket
Historic win for Afghanistan, a big blow to England!
Ibrahim Zadran was chosen as the ‘Player of the Match’ for his record-breaking innings of 177 runs. Afghanistan made a big upset in the tournament with this victory, while England will now have to win the remaining matches to stay in the race for the semi-finals.
ICC CT 2025 AFG vs ENG Match Statement
Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan captain):
As a team we are happy and we know the entire nation will be happy. It tastes nice. Moving onto the next game. First time we beat them in the 2023 World Cup. I keep saying that we are improving day by day as a team. That’s what we showed in the last couple of World Cups. Today it was a tense game but we controlled it really well. (On Ibrahim Zadran) He’s absolutely brilliant and a talented guy. We were three down in the beginning and there was too much pressure. The partnership between me and Ibrahim was crucial.
This was one of the best ODI innings I have ever seen. Azmat also played very well when I lost my wicket. He played with very good intent. He scored runs and with the ball under pressure, he bowled very well. (On Nabi) The beauty of our team is we have talented youngsters and at the same time we have some senior guys who are at the top level. Everyone knows their role. Everyone’s doing good and hopefully we take this momentum with us for the next game against Australia and do well.
It will give us a lot of confidence but at the same time it will be a new day for both teams. That game will decide who will go to the semifinal. We will focus on what we can control. What’s good for us, we will try to do that.
Jos Buttler (England captain):
Obviously really disappointing. Thought we had our chances. Another fantastic game of cricket but gutted to come out on the wrong side. Joe Root played an unbelievable innings. We wanted one of the top six batters to stay with him longer and take it deeper. Thought he and Overton put in a good partnership.
Looked good to get over the line at the end but we lost too many wickets. They got away from us there in the last ten overs. Credit to Ibrahim, he played a fantastic innings as well. But if we look back and reflect, 113 off the last ten pushed them up to a score which was a very good score on that pitch.
(Mark Wood’s fitness) Unfortunately in his fourth over he felt his left knee. Credit to him – he dealt with a hell of a lot of pain there to get through. He showed a lot of character. He will be assessed going forward. It was difficult when Livi went off the field at some point as well with his ankle but credit to him for coming back as well. It was difficult manning up our best resources but we had to sneak in a couple of overs here and there. (On Root) He’s been a brilliant player in all formats.
Obviously his ODI record is outstanding. He played an unbelievable innings tonight, showed a lot of character to handle pressure. As I said, one of us in the top six could have stayed with him and got it done. (On his own form and not converting his starts, any particular reason he reckons?) If I knew I probably wouldn’t be playing the way I am. Don’t feel far away from my best.
I am one of the best players in the world and it feels disappointing to not play as well. (On his captaincy future) Not saying any emotional statements right now. For me and the guys at the top, we have to consider all possibilities.
Ibrahim Zadran (Player of the Match, Afghanistan):
Thanks to the almighty, I wanted to take a good catch for the team. I batted for 50 overs and wanted to do something on the field for the team. When I took the catch, I enjoyed it. I want to bat longer, the 177 is very special to me, the highest score in the Champions Trophy. We played here in the Asia Cup last year, got an idea of the conditions, and prepared accordingly for that.
When you are in the game, you have got a lot of energy and confidence. We will try and play better cricket in the next game. We will play against Australia next, we need to be clinical and not make mistakes. This is international cricket and we need to be up to the mark
