Sam Curran sizzles as England beat Afghanistan by 5 wickets

England pacer Sam Curran appeals vehemently for a verdict against an Afghanistan batsman during their T20 WC match in Perth on Saturday. Pic/AFP

England were wobbly with the bat, but hostile with the ball and outstanding on the field in a five-wicket victory over Afghanistan in their T20 World Cup opener here on Saturday.

Sam Curran led the way with excellent figures of 5-10 as title contenders England, aided by some incredible catches, bowled out Afghanistan for 112 in a Super 12 Group 1 match.

While left-arm fast-medium bowling all-rounder Curran did the bulk of the damage, England were also helped by as many as three stunning catches after Jos Buttler opted to bowl.

Ibrahim Zadran (32) and Usman Ghani (30) were the two main contributors for Afghanistan.

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When England batted, Liam Livingstone (29 off 21 balls) was there till the end to see the team through after they lost five wickets. England won with 11 balls to spare.

Buttler did not last long, falling for an 18-ball 18 to Fazalhaq Farooqi but the Afghans did not have enough on the board to pose any sort of threat to an English line-up that bats deep.

Alex Hales, too, got out after making 19 in 20 deliveries but that did not come in the way of a convincing England victory.

Ben Stokes (2) was out cheaply too, leaving England at 65 for three in the 11th over. It became 97 for five in the 16th over, when Rashid Khan had Harry Brook (7) caught by Ibrahim Zadran.

On a lively track that encouraged a good contest between the bat and the ball, Afghanistan managed 35 runs in the powerplay after losing Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the second over.

Brief scores
Afghanistan 112 all out in 19.4 overs (I Zadran 32, U Ghani 30; S Curran 5-10) lost to England 113-5 in 18.1 overs (L Livingstone 29', A Hales 19;
M Nabi 1-16) by 5 wickets

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