World Cup 2019: England hammer Afghanistan by 9 wickets in second warm-up

It's a confidence-boosting win for the hosts in their final warm-up game

The hosts England cruised to an easy win over Afghanistan in their final warm-up game ahead of the ICC World Cup 2019 played at The Oval, London on Monday.

England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and decided to field. The hosts got off to a perfect as Jofra Archer dismissed the dangerous Zazai for 11 and Rahmat Shah cheaply. At the end of 10 overs, Afghanistan were 38 for 2.

After the power play overs, England bowlers kept picking wickets regularly and never allowed the Afghanistan batsmen to score runs easily. The hosts reduced Afghanistan to 92 for 8. Then Mohammad Nabi added some important runs with Aftab Alam for the 9th wicket and then with Dawlat Zadran.

Nabi was the top scorer for Afghanistan with 44 runs. England bowled out Afghanistan for a paltry total of 160 in 38.4 overs. For England, Jofra Archer and Joe Root took 3 wickets each.

Chasing the target of 161 runs to win, England's explosive pair of Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow gave the team a flying start by putting pressure on the Afghanistan bowlers. They added 77 runs for the opening wicket in 7.2 overs. Jonny Bairstow was dismissed for a quick fire 39 off 22 balls.

Jason Roy played with positive intent and just made the batting look easy. The explosive right-handed opener reached his half-century off 28 balls. It was an amazing display by Roy who showed his class and remained not out on 89 off 46 balls. Joe Root gave him support and remained not out on 29. Roy and Root added unbeaten 84 runs for the 2nd wicket. England won the match by 9 wickets with 195 balls to spare.

Brief scores: England 161 for 1 in 17.3 overs (Jason Roy 89*, Bairstow 39, Mohammad Nabi 1/34) beat Afghanistan 160 in 38.4 overs (Mohammad Nabi 44, Noor Ali Zadran 30, Jofra Archer 3/32, Joe Root 3/22) by 9 wickets.

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