England hand Afghanistan 150-run thumping

England batter Joe Root is banking on his team using the lessons they learnt in 2019 when they try to defend their ICC Men's Cricket World Cup title in India later this year.

Root was part of the victorious England side that lifted their inaugural World Cup trophy at home four years ago and they get the chance to become just the third team to claim back-to-back titles when they travel to the sub-continent for this year's 50-over showcase.

The memories of a thrilling Super Over clash in the World Cup Final at Lord's in 2019 are still fresh in Root's mind, and the star right-hander is hoping he will be able to emulate that victory in India in November.

"Having the experience of 2019 and how good that was and how much that meant to the group and for them to go out and get the opportunity to defend it is something we are relishing and really looking forward to," Root said.

"We are going to have to play some really good cricket, we are going to have to adapt to different conditions and have that consistency that you need so we will see how we go."

England are one of the teams that have already named a preliminary squad for the six-week tournament and the defending champions revealed a few surprises in their initial group by leaving out young batter Harry Brook and including uncapped pacer Gus Atkinson.

Root has confidence in the squad chosen to get the job done for England during the World Cup and knows his team must play their best cricket at the pointy end of the tournament.

"It is very exciting to play in a World Cup event is something that you always look forward to as a player," Root said.

"Big tournaments and big moments is where you want to go out and perform and impress and deliver for your country.

"You have to get to those last two games - the semi-final and the final - and it is about turning up and putting in the performance when it really counts."

And unsurprisingly Root nominated a pair of his teammates as the most likely players to be the leading run scorer and wicket-taker at the eagerly-awaited event that commences on October 5.

"I am going to go for Jonny Bairstow (to be the leading run scorer)," Root suggested.

"He is someone that always has a point to prove, he is a wonderful white-ball player and he has been so consistent for us at the top of the order."

Root expects conditions teams will face in India will suit the slower bowlers and believes Adil Rashid can thrive by being the leading wicket-taker.

"He (Rashid) has so many different skills and variations to call upon," Root added.

"We know how important it is to take wickets in the middle overs...he has done a wonderful job for us for a long time and I anticipate him being very difficult on these wickets."

A spirited Afghanistan going on to shock the defending champions England had injected a much-needed zest in the ongoing ICC World Cup.

Prior to the Sunday's fixture in Delhi, the highly anticipated quadrennial tournament was following the expected route, more or less, devoid of any big upset that would force the casual fans to take notice.

A desperate shot of adrenaline boost had to come from somewhere, and it came at the expense of the English team -- who now have the unwanted distinction of being the only team that have lost to all Test-playing nations in the World Cup.

Seeing Rahmanullah Gurbaz take the attack to the English bowlers up front before the spin duo of Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan weaving their magic to dismantle England's lengthy batting line-up had somewhat compensated for the long list of matches that churned out predictable outcomes, and the manner in which they arrived.

But that win did more than just provide some momentary excitement. It has now opened the doors for some possibilities, making the tournament more interesting going forward.

Leading up to the World Cup, England were the other name alongside India who were thought to be a shoo-in for a spot in the semifinal.

While Rohit Sharma's India have so far lived up to the promise, with three wins in the first three appearances in the competition, England have been inconsistent.

Their tournament began with a hammering against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, a match they lost by nine wickets, followed by Jos Buttler and his troops bouncing back with a commanding victory over Bangladesh in Dharamshala.

England were expected to overcome the Afghan challenge with ease and move onto bigger challenges. But Hashmatullah Shahidi's men disrupted those plans.

The defeat to Afghanistan complicates England's road to the semifinal. England have six matches to go in the round-robin stage against South Africa, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, Netherlands and Pakistan.

For a team to play in the semifinals, they would likely require at least six wins out of nine. A team can also go through with five wins but in that case the net run-rate will come into play.

In that sense, the equation now for England is they have to win at least four out of their remaining six matches, if not more, if they want to keep their fate in own hands.

The defeat to Afghanistan has taken away England's safety net and put them in a tough spot with little room for error.

The fact that England's next match will be against the high-flying South Africa, who have registered dominant victories over Australia and Sri Lanka in Wankhede, adds to the already mounting pressure on the back of captain Buttler.

Despite the early slum, England have enough firepower to string together a few victories and get their tournament back on track.

All in all, England's defeat to Afghanistan has infused a hint of uncertainty into what has been an otherwise predictable tournament so far.

England today hauled a nine-wicket victory against Afghanistan during ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 at Sydney Cricket Ground before both of the teams are scheduled to set off to home.

England were set to score 101 runs within 25 overs against Afghanistan, which they reached by  18.1 overs, as intermittent rain reduced the match.

The target was set after Duckworth-Lewis method was applied to the rain-affected match.

Chris Jordan was awarded the Player of the Match award for his two wickets spending only 13 runs.

English openers Alex Hales and Ian Bell chased the easy score till 83 runs when Hales departed on a Hamid Hassan's delivery.

Ian Bell scored an unbeaten 52 runs for England.

Earlier, Afghanistan scored 111 runs losing seven wickets off 36.2 overs after English skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and sent them to bat first.

Afghanistan lost five wickets of Javed Ahmadi, Nawroz Mangal, Afsar Zazai, Samiullah Shenwari, Shafiqullah, Nasir Jamal and Mohammad Nabi.

Chris Jordan and Ravi Bopara picked two wickets each while James Anderson, Stuart Broad and James Tredwell took one each.

Both of the teams will leave the tournament as they were already knocked out from it.

Afghanistan

Javed Ahmadi, Nawroz Mangal, Afsar Zazai (WK), Nasir Jamal, Samiullah Shenwari, Shafiqullah, Mohammad Nabi (Capt), Najibullah Zadran, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hassan

England

IR Bell, AD Hales, JWA Taylor, JE Root, EJG Morgan (Capt)), JC Buttler (WK), RS Bopara, CJ Jordan, JC Tredwell, SCJ Broad and JM Anderson

England captain Eoin Morgan set a new world record of 17 sixes in an individual one-day international innings as the World Cup hosts thrashed Afghanistan by 150 runs on Tuesday.

Victory at Old Trafford saw favourites England go ahead of holders Australia to sit top of the World Cup group table on net run-rate.

Joe Root and Johnny Bairstow (Below) played supporting roles scoring 88 and 90 runs respectively as England piled on 397 runs which included a world record 25 sixes in an ODI against Afghanistan during their World Cup group stage match at Old Trafford on Tuesday. England won by 150 runs. Photo: Reuters

Morgan’s six-hitting spree in his career-best 148 set the tone for England’s team total of 25 sixes, which was also a new ODI innings record.

Photo: Reuters

The Dubliner’s innings, which featured 118 runs in boundaries, was all the more impressive as Morgan had been doubtful for this match with a back spasm suffered in England’s win over the West Indies, in which he could not bat.

“I’m getting quite old, running around with a bad back, I never thought in my wildest dreams I’d produce an innings like that!” Morgan said.

“I had an extremely bad back after the last game but our medical staff have done wonders with medication and extensive treatment. I have pretty much been living with the physio.

“It was a special day. It’s the World Cup. We’re loving playing in it. On the big stage, it is nice to do.”

Morgan’s masterclass was the centrepiece of England’s 397-6.

That was the highest total of the tournament so far and the largest England had made at any World Cup, surpassing their 386-6 against Bangladesh in Cardiff 10 days ago.

Even though bottom of the table Afghanistan, suffering their fifth defeat in five matches, posted their highest World Cup total of 247-8 they were never up with the required run-rate.

“We are where we want to be. The next two or three games are pretty crucial,” Morgan said of England’s World Cup hopes.

“We want to bring our level of intensity to every game. Making that a priority is important to us.”

Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib saluted Morgan, saying: “It was one of the best innings I’ve ever seen from Eoin so congratulations to him.

“We did a lot of good things in the field but we dropped Morgan, which is the main point of his innings and how he then utilised it.”

Hashmatullah Shahidi completed a gutsy 68-ball fifty on his way to 76, while his fourth-wicket stand of partnership of 94 with Ashgar Afghan (44) was a record for any Afghanistan wicket at a World Cup.

Earlier, Morgan, dropped on 28, dominated a third-wicket stand of 189 with Joe Root (88), whose contribution to their partnership was a mere 43.

Afghanistan star leg-spinner Rashid Khan set an unwanted record with 0-110 in nine overs -- the most expensive return at a World Cup and second costliest in all ODI cricket.

Morgan’s tally surpassed the record of 16 sixes in an ODI innings previously shared by India’s Rohit Sharma, South Africa’s AB de Villiers and West Indies’ Chris Gayle.

He broke the record when he launched Naib for a flat straight hit over his head.

But the very next ball saw Morgan hole out off Naib to end a 71-ball innings that also featured four fours.

Jonny Bairstow had got England off to a solid start, with England accelerating after James Vince fell for 26 when he mishooked paceman Dawlat Zadran to short fine-leg.

In sight of his eighth ODI century, Bairstow’s 99-ball innings ended when he chipped a return catch to Naib.

Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott hopes Sunday's World Cup win over England will "encourage boys and girls" to take up cricket even though the country's Taliban rulers ban women from playing sport.

The 69-run victory will be regarded as one of the biggest shocks in the history of the tournament as Afghanistan ended a 14-match World Cup losing streak.

"It's not just cricket that the guys are playing for," said Trott, who recognised the significance of a win for a nation reeling from recent earthquakes and the Taliban's fractious international relations.

"The guys are very knowledgeable of the things and the hardship that some people are going through because of the natural disaster and for various other reasons.

"And so, if this can give a smile to people's faces but also encourage boys and girls to pick up a cricket bat or a cricket ball and get playing cricket wherever they are in Afghanistan, then that's the sort of the goal that's been achieved."

Before Sunday, Afghanistan had only won one match at the World Cup when they defeated Scotland on their 2015 debut.

They lost all nine matches they played at the 2019 tournament in England, including a 150-run rout at the hands of the hosts.

But having scored 284 on Sunday thanks to dashing opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz's blistering 80 and Ikram Alikhil's 58, Afghanistan's bowlers set to work.

Only Harry Brook with 66 showed any real defiance while spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan claimed three wickets each as England were dismissed for 215.

- 'Knock-on effect' -

The result left both sides with a win and two losses each after three games of the 10-nation tournament.

"This win is significant, certainly in the manner and by the margin as well," added Trott.

"There's a lot of confidence that will hopefully come from this, it'll have a knock-on effect to all the other games, but not only in this World Cup, but for the future as well."

Trott knows all about World Cup shocks. In 2011, he was part of the England team humbled by Ireland in Bengaluru despite him scoring 92.

"That's the beauty of the World Cup, isn't it? That's what cricket's about, it pushes and pulls you so much emotionally as a player and as a coach.

"But we can compete with anybody in the world."

Next up for Afghanistan are New Zealand who have three wins from three games including seeing off England in the tournament opener.

New Zealand, runners-up at the last two World Cups, will be favourites.

Trott, however, believes that his players' exposure to the international game through Twenty20 franchise cricket has only served to bolster Afghanistan self-belief.

"I think the fact that a lot of our players have played with the English players in franchise cricket, they get to know the ins and outs of each player so there's that familiarity and also the confidence," he explained.

"Sometimes I think when you see big Test playing nations you sort of hold them in high regard. I think playing with players like that you see that they are human and you are just as entitled to win."