How many matches have Afghanistan won in the men's ODI World Cup?
The 2023 World Cup witnessed its first major upset as Afghanistan shocked defending champions England by 69 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on October 15.
Despite being tagged as minnows, Afghanistan have come close to upsetting several top-tier teams in the last few years. The side debuted in the 2015 ODI World Cup, losing all but one of their six games.
Afghanistan's lone win came against Scotland in the battle of then-associate nations by one wicket in a thriller at Dunedin. The Asian side also provided Sri Lanka a scare before ultimately going down by four wickets.
However, the 2019 World Cup was when the side boasted more established stars like Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, and Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman. Yet, the Afghans disappointed mightily, losing all nine games to finish at the bottom of the points table.
While it felt like a step backward, the Gulbadin Naib-led side did come close several times to beating the top-ranked sides before suffering defeat.
Their second game against Sri Lanka saw the Lankans digging deep for a 34-run victory. Following a hattrick of trouncings, Afghanistan produced a humdinger against tournament-favorites India, where they missed a stunning win by 11 runs.
They also completed their 2019 World Cup campaign with two narrow losses to Pakistan and West Indies by three wickets and 23 runs, respectively. Afghanistan opened the 2023 World Cup with back-to-back losses against Bangladesh and India before pulling off the upset against England.
Afghanistan will celebrate long and hard into the night as they completed only their second ODI World Cup victory in 18 games.
How did Afghanistan pull off the stunning upset against Mighty England?
Following the aftermath of the India-Pakistan clash, a snoozefest was expected when mighty England took on Afghanistan. However, the Afghan openers made their intentions clear immediately, racing to 114/0 by the 17th over.
Wicket-keeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz was particularly severe on the English pacers, scoring a magical 80 off 57 deliveries before unfortunately getting run out. At 122/3 and later 190/6, another low score seemed inevitable until Ikram Alikhil, who was playing his first game of this World Cup, scored a fluent 58 off 66 balls.
A pair of valuable 20s by Rashid Khan and Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman propelled Afghanistan to a competitive 284.
In reply, England were rocked early by an inspired Afghan bowling unit, losing Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root within the first seven overs to find themselves 33/2.
Barring middle-order batter Harry Brook, there was little to no resistance from the other batters as wickets tumbled at regular intervals. Despite a few lusty blows from the final three batters, England were shut out for a dismal 215 to suffer an embarrassing 69-run defeat.
All five specialist bowlers made their mark, with Rashid Khan and Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman (Player of the Match) leading the way with three wickets each.
The defeat leaves England in a precarious position with only one win in three games, following their opening day mauling to New Zealand and the win against Bangladesh.