The Afghanistan Cricket Board: The cricket world rose in effusive praise for the Afghanistan men's cricket team, especially Ibrahim Zadran and Azmatullah Omarzai, as they played a stellar role in a stunning victory over former champions England in the Champions Trophy 2025 in Lahore on Wednesday.
Reduced to 37/3 in the first Power-play, Afghanistan rode on a brilliant 177 by Zadran, the highest individual score in the Champions Trophy, and crucial contributions by skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (40), Mohammad Nabi (40) and Omarzai (41) to post a massive 325/7. Omarzai continued with his brilliant performance, claiming 5-58, the best bowling figures by an Afghan bowler as England was bowled out for 317 despite a valiant 120 by Joe Root.
"Brilliant from Afghanistan..Thoroughly deserved win...England just haven’t played good enough white-ball cricket for a couple of years. this result isn’t a surprise in these conditions," wrote former England captain Michael Vaughan in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) hailed Omarzai's display as "all-round performance at its best".
"All-