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Jofra Archer dismisses Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sediqullah Atal Photograph: (X)
English pacer Jofra Archer gave his team a great start with the ball in a do-or-die encounter against Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy 2025. The 29-year-old struck twice in a single over to put Hasmatullah Shahidi under huge pressure. The first wicket to fall was that of key Afghan batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
On the first ball of the fifth over, Archer bowled a full ball that Gurbaz tried to drive. The batter could only get an inside edge onto the bat and see his stumps get rattled. Gurbaz was out after scoring six runs from 15 balls. This brought number three batter Sediqullah Atal to the crease, who got going with a terrific flick for four runs.
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Jofra Archer strikes twice early on to put England on top 🔥
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Archer struck for the second time in the over when he had Atal trapped in front of the wickets. The umpire had no hesitation in giving the batter out, but the Afghan player decided to send it up for reviews. Once the replays came on, it was seen that the on-field umpire was right.
Must win match for both sides in Champions Trophy
Afghanistan skipper Hasmatullah Shahidi won the toss and chose to bat first. England skipper Jos Buttler said that he also wanted to bat first considering the conditions in mind. For England, Jamie Overton made his way into the side after Brydon Carse's tournament was ended due to injury. The Afghans, on the other hand, went in with the same team.
England began their tournament with a huge loss to Australia on Saturday. This despite scoring 351 on the board after a century from Ben Duckett’s bat. Afghanistan had lost to South Africa on Friday by 107 runs. Proteas pacers had skittled out the Afghan batters with their pace and hostility.
A loss for either side will end their tournament and make them the third team after Pakistan and Bangladesh to exit the campaign. At this stage of the tournament, both Australia and South Africa have three points each. The game on Tuesday in Rawalpindi was washed out due to rain.