All-rounder Luke Wright hit a career-best unbeaten 99 as England batsmen feasted on a relatively inexperienced Afghanistan attack to put up a daunting 196 for five in a group A match of the ICC World Twenty20, on Friday.
Published: Sep 21, 2012, 10:34 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 21, 2012, 10:34 PM (IST)
England players celebrate the dismissal of Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal in their ICC World T20 clash © Getty Images
Colombo: Sep 21, 2012
All-rounder Luke Wright hit a career-best unbeaten 99 as England batsmen feasted on a relatively inexperienced Afghanistan attack to put up a daunting 196 for five in a group A match of the ICC World Twenty20, on Friday.
Wright smashed the Afghan bowlers all around the park during his 55-ball knock that contained eight fours and half a dozen of sixes. In the process, Wright became England’s highest individual scorer in World T20, surpassing Kevin Pietersen’s 79.
He also got good support from the likes of Alex Hales and Eoin Morgan who chipped in with useful scores of 31 and 27 respectively. Jos Butler (15) and Jonathan Bairstow (12) also hit a few lusty blows to keep the momentum going in favour of defending champions.
Wright was unlucky to miss out on a three-figure mark as he got only two off the last ball of the innings. Earlier, he quickly reached 94 from 76 with three big hits off Izatullah Dawlatzai.
The pacer, who gave away 56 runs in his three overs was hit for 32 in the penultimate over.
Opting to field, Afghanistan seamer Shapoor Zadran provided a dream start to his team as he forced English opener Craig Kieswetter to chop one onto his stumps in what turned out to be a wicket maiden over.
Till the end of the fourth over, the unheralded Afghan bowlers did a decent job with England at 15 for one.
Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal’s decision to give Shapoor an extra over opened the floodgates.
The nippy left-armer couldn’t hold onto his nerve as he gave away 23 runs in the fifth over of the innings, which included three boundaries and a huge six from Wright. (PTI)
Brief Scores: England 196 for 5 in 20 overs (Luke Wright 99*, Alex Hales 31, Eoin Morgan 27; Izatullah Dawlatzai 2 for 56) bt Afghanistan 80 all-out in 17.2 overs (Gulbodin Naib 44; Samit Patel 2 for 6, Stuart Broad 2 for 10, Jade Dernback 2 for 16) by 116 runs
ICC World T20 2012 post-match review: Afghanistan vs England
ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2012: Match time table with group details
