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The score was set in motion by Afghan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who made 80 off 57 balls, before their senior spinner Rashid Khan sealed the win on 9.3 unused overs, condemning England to a second defeat in three matches, after nine overs. A wicket defeat in their opening match against New Zealand.
This leaves world champions England in clear danger of being eliminated from the group stage of this year’s tournament, with little room to maneuver in their remaining six matches, including next Saturday’s crucial clash with South Africa in Mumbai, one of the three teams that did not. Defeated. At the top of the rankings.
“I think you have to let these defeats hurt,” Buttler said in the post-match presentations. “There’s no point in just trying to go too fast, even though you have to do it as quickly as you can.
“But let it hurt us a little bit, let’s think and work on the areas where we need to improve and we have to show some real resilience. We have a lot of characters in the group, a lot of players who have been there. We’ve had a lot of good times and some tough times as well. So we will show a lot of flexibility and we will get back to fighting.”
Buttler’s comments reflect his feelings after another recent group stage upset, against Ireland in Melbourne in last year’s T20 World Cup. On that occasion, England used the loss to fire up their game and rebound to become the first men’s team to hold both the 50 and 20 world titles simultaneously. But judging by the worryingly meek display, they face a major challenge to get their campaign back on track.
“In general, we are not at the level we would like to be, and in the World Cup finals and against good opponents, where the players put you under pressure, that is where we should be.” Butler said. “So all of us, from everyone on the field and off the field, will work hard to put this right.”
England’s problems began with the ball, with Chris Woakes enduring his third off-ball delivery in as many matches, including a leg-side first-ball delivery that flew through Buttler’s legs for five – an ominous moment that summed up a sluggish display.
“It was disappointing, having won the toss and opted to field, she missed the first ball off the leg side which kind of set the tone for us there early on. Obviously a tough loss. Congratulations to Afghanistan, they outplayed us today.” .
“It’s always about execution, isn’t it?” he added. “Throughout the game, with the ball and the racket, we were not at the level we wanted to be consistent enough. So I think those are the main areas where we lost the game and I think you have to play better. You have to find ways to impose yourself on the game and execute your skills.” “
Afghanistan’s total of 284 may have been around 50 runs short of what was on offer as Gurbaz cruised to the power play, but it proved more than enough once Afghanistan’s experienced spin attack put a stranglehold on England’s chase.
Harry Brook held up better than most in a difficult 66 overs in conditions that proved far less conducive to batting than England had expected, but his leg six over Mujibur Rahman was the only time they cleared the ropes all evening, compared to Afghanistan’s eight sixes.
“They’re a really skilled offense,” Butler said. “They obviously had some great bowlers, in particular. The dew probably didn’t come as much as we expected. The ball stuck a little bit and there was a bit of careless bounce and they put us under a lot of pressure.”
“They bowled very dry. They bowled straight, kept the stumps in play, and we were not good enough today.”
