Lahore, Feb 27: Head Coach Trott lauded Afghanistan’s win over England in the Champions Trophy to keep their semifinal hopes alive but wants his team to immediately shift their focus to the Australia showdown, where a win will seal their place in the knockouts.

Ibrahim Zadran’s scintillating 177, followed by Azmatullah Omarzai’s five-wicket haul, helped Afghanistan land a knockout blow to England with an eight-run win in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Having shocked the world after reaching the semis in last year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Jonathan Trott’s side are now just one win away from reaching the final four yet again.

“I’m going to make sure when they wake up tomorrow, they enjoy tonight, (but) wake up tomorrow ready for Australia. As soon as they wake up tomorrow, the focus is on Australia,” Trott told the media after their nail-biting victory over England.

Afghanistan’s upcoming match against Australia is now, effectively, a quarterfinal, with the winner gaining undeniable semifinal qualification and the loser packing their bags. But, the head coach admitted that Afghanistan needs to be well prepared, as the Aussies are not going to take his side lightly.

“Australia aren’t going to take us lightly. So, we’ve got to be prepared. In the past, perhaps people would have seen the fixture and thought it was a little bit easier than playing a historic Test nation. But in this format, in these conditions, I don’t see that.

“Since I’ve been coach we’ve played against Australia three times and we’ve been in the game each of those games. So, we should take a lot of confidence from that. And I think certainly what happened in the World Cup, T20 World Cup, and I say this to the players as well, that Afghanistan’s never going to be taken lightly ever again.

“I see every game that we play is going to be competitive, and every game we go into I expect to win,” Trott added.

Chasing 326 in what was a must-win game for both teams in Group B, England had been reduced to 313/9 at the end of the penultimate over. Then, Omarzai, who earlier trapped the big fish Joe Root (120) who was keeping England in the hunt for a mammoth total, removed Adil Rashid in the final over to close a memorable win for the Afghans.

“There’s a resilience to them. I think if you add to some cricketing experience and cricketing match awareness with regards to batting in particular, with regards to how you pace the innings… it’s not always down to one person.

“We saw Ibrahim, the way that he’s done today; we’ve seen Gurbaz do it in the past… We have Gulbadin at eight at the moment, who can come in and change games. So that self-belief is important and it starts within, but it’s also quite infectious and it spreads within the squad,” the Afghanistan coach said.

Afghanistan will take on Australia on Friday in a must-win encounter at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Lahore, Feb 26: Ibrahim Zadran’s stunning 177 – the highest individual score in Champions Trophy history – propelled Afghanistan to a formidable 325/7 in 50 overs in their must-win Group B clash against England at the Gaddafi Stadium.

This is also the highest total for Afghanistan in ICC events. With the threat of elimination looming, England have a huge task ahead of them as the highest target ever chased against Afghanistan in an ODI is 314 by Sri Lanka in Pallekele in 2022.

England made early inroads with Jofra Archer’s fiery new-ball spell, reducing Afghanistan to 37/3, but a crucial 103-run stand between Zadran and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi steadied the innings. Late cameos from Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi powered Afghanistan to a strong finish, as England’s attack struggled, conceding 113 runs in the final 10 overs.

After opting to bat first, Afghanistan’s top order showed resilience and endured early struggles but fought back to post a competitive total by the 40-over mark. England’s fast bowlers, particularly Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, set the tone early with fiery spells. Afghanistan’s openers made a watchful start, navigating through a testing powerplay where England applied relentless pressure.

Archer was the star of the opening overs, striking twice in quick succession. He first dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz (6), who inside-edged an inswinger onto his stumps, before trapping Sediqullah Atal (4) lbw in the same over. Rahmat Shah (4) soon followed, top-edging a pull shot to Adil Rashid, giving Archer his third wicket– enroute becoming the fastest England bowler to reach 50 in 30 matches surpassing James Anderson’s record of 31 matches.

At 37 for 3, Afghanistan were in deep trouble, but Ibrahim Zadran and Hashmatullah Shahidi spearheaded a recovery. The duo played cautiously at first, ensuring no further setbacks. Ibrahim reached his fifty off 65 balls, striking three fours and two sixes. Hashmatullah provided valuable support, and their partnership brought much-needed stability.

The turning point came in the 25th over when Afghanistan’s batters shifted gears. Jamie Overton’s reintroduction into the attack was met with aggression from Zadran, who dispatched him for a six and two fours in the space of an over. The 103-run partnership between Zadran and Hashmatullah was a crucial milestone, but England found a breakthrough soon after as Adil Rashid dismissed Hashmatullah for 40 with a well-disguised slider that rattled the stumps.

Mark Wood, who had earlier limped off with a knee issue, made a determined return in the 34th over. Though he looked slightly restricted in movement, his pace remained threatening, clocking over 140kph in a tidy comeback spell. Despite England’s efforts, Afghanistan continued their recovery, with Ibrahim bringing up his century off 106 balls—his sixth ODI hundred—anchoring the innings superbly.

Azmatullah Omarzai provided a crucial boost in the middle overs, striking a straight-driven six and accelerating the scoring rate. His partnership of 72 with Zadran helped Afghanistan cross 200 in the 37th over. However, his aggressive approach led to his downfall, as he miscued a slower ball from Overton to long-on, departing for 41.

Wood, already battling through visible discomfort, finally succumbed to knee injury after sending down his eighth over, leaving England even more depleted in their bowling resources. Moments later, Liam Livingstone, a crucial all-round option, hobbled off after tweaking his knee while fielding.

Ibrahim Zadran, in stellar form, continued his onslaught, collecting a trio of twos and reaching a magnificent 150, with plenty more to come. Ben Duckett’s tournament-best 165 against Australia was suddenly in danger of being eclipsed. Mohammad Nabi then launched Joe Root for back-to-back sixes over deep midwicket before a misfield from Duckett at point gifted Afghanistan four more runs. Root’s over ended with a commanding drive through the covers from Ibrahim Zadran, capping off a massive 23-run over.

Livingstone’s return to the field provided England with a much-needed boost, but Jos Buttler would not have expected him to bowl the final over of the innings. To his credit, Livingstone held his nerve, inducing a slog-sweep from Ibrahim Zadran that ended a breathtaking knock of 177 from 146 balls—Afghanistan’s highest individual ODI score. Mohammad Nabi followed soon after, holing out for a crucial 40 off 24 balls, as England wrapped up the innings with a semblance of control.

Brief scores: Afghanistan 325/7 in 50 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 177, Azmatullah Omarzai 41 ; Jofra Archer 3-64, Adil Rashid 1-60) against England

Lahore, Feb 26: Jofra Archer became the fastest England bowler to reach 50 ODI wickets, against Afghanistan in the Group B encounter of the Champions Trophy 2025, here at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Archer made an explosive start, dismantling Afghanistan’s top order by picking up three quick wickets. In the process, he reached a significant milestone—completing 50 wickets in One Day Internationals (ODIs). More importantly, he became the fastest bowler in England’s history to achieve this feat, surpassing the legendary James Anderson.

Before Archer’s feat, Anderson held the record for the fastest 50 wickets for England in ODIs, having achieved the milestone in 31 matches. But Archer went one step further, accomplishing the landmark in just his 30th ODI. With this, he also outpaced other notable English bowlers, including Steve Harmison (32 matches), Steven Finn (33 matches), and Stuart Broad & Darren Gough (both in 34 matches).

On the global stage, Sri Lanka’s mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis still holds the world record for the fastest 50 ODI wickets, achieving the milestone in just 19 matches. Among pacers, India’s Ajit Agarkar remains one of the quickest, having reached the mark in only 23 ODIs.

Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bat first but were reduce to 39/3 in powerplay. Archer’s fiery spell saw him dismissing strike batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz (6) with an inswinging fuller delivery. Then he trapped Sediqullah Atal in front of the wicket for four runs.

Rahmat Shah trying to pull the ball edged it straight in the deep fineleg on four runs for Archer’s third wicket.

Archer’s journey to this milestone took him nearly six years, even after his blistering start in 2019, where he claimed 23 ODI wickets and a World Cup winner’s medal within months of his debut. However, a series of devastating injuries, coupled with the diminishing prominence of the ODI format, slowed his progress. Despite the setbacks, reaching this landmark remains a significant achievement.