Key events
Show only key events
Please enable JavaScript to use this feature
Five wicket haul for Sam Curran
Curran gets his fifth to close the innings! Farooqi swings hard and the ball flies into the hands of Dawid Malan at Gully. What a beautiful moment for the all-rounder as he finishes with impressive figures of 5-10. Afghanistan have been bowled out for 112, collapsing spectacularly from 109-5.
WICKET! Ghani c Livingstone b Curran 30 (Afghanistan 112-9)
No hat-trick for Curran, but he takes a wicket with his next ball! Ghani cuts hard and finds Livingstone at deep point. The fun continues for the left arm.
19th over: Afghanistan 112-8 (Ghani 30, Farid 2) Finally a drop from England! Farid cuts and Hales, to his right back, can’t hold. That was very hard.
WICKET! Mujeeb c&b Woakes 0 (Afghanistan 110-8)
Another! Chris Woakes takes a one-handed return catch off his bowling to get rid of Mujeeb first ball!
WICKET! Rashid c Hales b Curran 0 (Afghanistan 109-7)
Two by two! Curran falls short again and Rashid Khan pulls to Hales at fine leg. England are rampant.
18th over: Afghanistan 109-7 (Ghani 29, Mujeeb 0)
Updated at 1.29pm BST
WICKET! Azmatullah c Stokes b Curran 8 (Afghanistan 109-6)
England go up for a review after Curran hits Ghani’s back pad but the ball is flicking the touch of leg outside. Curran can celebrate moments later though – it falls short and Azmatullah hits the ball to Stokes in the deep.
17th over: Afghanistan 106-5 (Ghani 28, Azmatullah 7) Rashid a little too short with his penultimate ball and Ghani gets four to the fine leg boundary. Rashid finishes with a sharp googly but it’s a wicketless outing for him today.
16th over: Afghanistan 97-5 (Ghani 23, Azmatullah 5) Azamtullah is the new batsman and he has gone straight away with a touch down the ground for four. Wood’s job for the night is done and it was a pleasure to watch.
WICKET! Nabi c Buttler b Wood 3 (Afghanistan 91-5)
Jos Buttler, this is ridiculous! Wood goes short and quick (obvs), Nabi gets behind and Buttler flies one-handed to his left to catch a shout. England don’t drop anything today.
England bowler Mark Wood reacts with wicketkeeper Jos Buttler (right) after the dismissal of Afghanistan batsman Mohammad Nabi. Photograph: Richard Wainwright/EPA
Updated at 1.36pm BST
15th over: Afghanistan 89-4 (Nabi 1, Ghani 22) Stokes tests Ghani with the short ball, and the batsman obliges with a shot for four. The over ends with another short one, and it looks like it will be another boundary…but stand-in Chris Jordan makes an excellent save at fine leg.
WICKET! Najibullah c Rashid b Stokes 13 (Afghanistan 82-4)
Another fantastic piece of work in the field from England. Stokes bowls the slower ball and Najibullah fails to make the necessary contact – Rashid, running back from mid-on, does brilliantly to hold.
14th over: Afghanistan 82-3 (Najbullah 13, Ghani 16) Wood pulls it back. Both batsmen have to be content with taking some singles; The wood offers nothing loose to throw the bat.
13th over: Afghanistan 78-3 (Ghani 13, Najibullah 12) Najibullah Zadran is the new batsman at the crease and gets a leg-break toss – sends Rashid in for a straight six. The left-hander then cuts hard with a googly, racing back for a very tight two. It looks like he’s going to try to give everything a hand.
12th over: Afghanistan 65-3 (Ghani 11, Najibullah 1) Top over from Curran. Afghanistan are struggling to build any kind of momentum here.
WICKET! Zadran c Moeen b Curran 32 (Afghanistan 62-3)
Zadran go! He tries to advance down the track, but he doesn’t read Curran’s cutter – the ball comes off the bat high into the night sky and Moeen Ali races back to cover to hold.
Moeen Ali of England catches Ibrahim Zadran of Afghanistan. Picture: Will Russell/ICC/Getty ImagesAli (left) joins the rest of his England team-mates, including Sam Curren (right), as they celebrate the capture of Zadran Port. Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP
Updated at 1.24pm BST
11th over: Afghanistan 62-2 (Zadran 32, Ghani 10) A wicked Rashid almost goes for Usman Ghani but he almost slips away for a single. A little too short from Rashid moments later, with Ghani chipping away for a couple. Afghanistan are moving for a bit of a stroke, but Rashid suffers no real punishment.
10th over: Afghanistan 55-2 (Zadran 29, Ghani 6) A toss for Afghanistan as Stokes goes outside and full, with Zadran unfurling a superb delivery for four. Stokes comes back full with his next ball, which allows Zadran to take a couple. We’re halfway through the innings – Afghanistan really need to get going in the next three to four overs.
9th over: Afghanistan 46-2 (Zadran 19, Ghani 8) Adil Rashid fires up and concedes just four runs from the over.
8th over: Afghanistan 42-2 (Zadran 18, Ghani 5) Sam Curran sprints to show off his left-arm bag of tricks. After a good start, just a single from his first four balls, it goes too straight, allowing Ghani to tickle the ball on the hips for four.
7th over: Afghanistan 37-2 (Zadran 17, Ghani 1) England in control.
WICKET! Zazai c Livingstone b Stokes 7 (Afghanistan 35-2)
What a trap! This is Liam Livingstone’s class.
Stokes goes short and wide, Zadran lets the cut out but it’s not on middle as the ball flies high behind point – Livingstone sprints in from the deep and gets low to hold.
England’s Liam Livingstone takes a catch to dismiss Afghanistan’s Hazrat Zazai. Picture: Gary Day/APLivingstone (left) is congratulated by Mark Wood on his stylish capture. Photography: PA Images
Updated at 13.09 BST
6th over: Afghanistan 35-1 (Zazai 7, Zadran 16) Woakes gets the outside edge off Zadran but the ball flies out of reach of the leaping buttler, running away for four. This gets the skipper at slip, but only for one ball after Zadran takes a couple down the leg side.
5th over: Afghanistan 27-1 (Zazai 7, Zadran 10) Zadran uses pace brilliantly, here: Wood stays short and the right-hander helps the ball to fine leg for six. Wood, operating in the nineties (mph), bounces some lightning past the bat, Zadran can’t put anything on it.
4th over: Afghanistan 20-1 (Zazai 6, Zadran 4) Woakes hits four points in a row before going short and wide, a gift to Zazai who cuts hard for four.
3rd over: Afghanistan 15-1 (Zazai 1, Zadran 4) Wood goes too full with his fourth ball, and Zadran leans to drive through covers for four. Otherwise, it’s just points on the top. Fast, electric and eternally watchable: Mark Wood has arrived at this World Cup.
Updated at 12.22pm BST
WICKET! Gurbaz c Buttler b Wood 10 (Afghanistan 11-1)
Mark Wood hits his first ball of the tournament! It’s quick, the perfect length, and it edges Gurbaz. Buttler does the rest. Beautiful bowling.
England bowler Mark Wood (left) reacts after dismissing Afghanistan batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Photograph: Richard Wainwright/EPA
Updated at 12.56 BST
2nd over: Afghanistan 11-0 (Gurbaz 10, Zazai 1) Woakes runs in from the other end and takes an edge to Gurbaz with his second ball but the shot is under control, the ball stays low in his way to third man as he takes two. And then a stunning stroke: Gurbaz moves across the stumps, comes down and whips Woakes for six over the fine-leg boundary.
1st over: Afghanistan 2-0 (Gurbaz 1, Zazai 1) Stokes takes the new ball and starts with a point before Zazai is caught down the leg side for a single. Right-handed Gurbaz blocks one before playing it and misses out. Another play and foul follows as Gurbaz comes down the court for a big swing. A single caps off the clean start from England.
We have heard the hymns. Ben Stokes has the ball. Here we go!
Then we’re about 10 minutes away from getting that show on the road. Time for this song from last year’s tournament to get me in the mood:
The teams:
England: Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Usman Ghani, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Farid Malik
England win the toss and decide to bowl
“We just feel like we’d like a chase.” Jos Buttler wins the toss and his men will start with the ball. Willey, Jordan, Salt and Mills are lost in England. They enter with seven batters.
In Sydney, New Zealand beat Australia by 89 runs. What a result.
preamble
They were a long way from winning it all in 2016. In 2021, things were looking good in the semi-final until Jimmy Neesham came up big and Daryl Mitchell held his nerve. England have had the role of this tournament since their white-ball comeback in 2015, but on both occasions they have fallen short, missing something special at the back to seal the deal. Third time lucky?
The case for going all the way this year is strong. After a difficult summer, they made a historic trip to Pakistan and finished with two dominant displays to take the series 4-3. With a Jos Buttler back in charge, they started this tour of Australia with a 2-0 win earlier this month. There’s a silly amount of power in this batting line-up, Mark Wood’s bowling rockets and while Ben Stokes’ situation is a bit awkward, he brings that extra stardust. England fans, you can dream.
But this will be a difficult first task. Afghanistan have Rashid Khan, arguably the best T20 cricketer on the planet. Then there are Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s crafty tricks to contend with as well. Whatever happens, it’s going to be a lot of fun. i…