Explore the comprehensive list of records established by Afghanistan in their remarkable 69-run victory over reigning champions England at the ODI World Cup.
On Sunday, Hashmatullah Shahidi’s Afghan team achieved one of the most significant upsets in ICC World Cup history. The underdog Afghanistan outperformed the defending champions, England, in the 13th match of the ICC World Cup at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. This historic win catapulted Afghanistan from the bottom of the group standings at the 2023 World Cup.
Exceeding expectations on the grand stage, Afghanistan secured their second win of the 50-over World Cup. Additionally, Afghanistan handed England their second loss at the 2023 World Cup in India. The ninth-ranked team last claimed a World Cup victory against Scotland in 2015. Furthermore, this marked Afghanistan’s first-ever One Day International (ODI) win against England. Afghanistan achieved numerous records with their remarkable victory over Jos Buttler’s squad in Delhi.
Afghanistan etched their name into the annals of cricket history with this victory over England. Prior to their encounter with England in Delhi, Afghanistan had not secured a single victory in their previous 14 appearances at the One Day International World Cup. The unfortunate record for the most consecutive defeats in ODI World Cup cricket was held by Zimbabwe, who endured 18 defeats in ODI World Cups from 1983 to 1992. The standout performer, Mohammad Nabi (15), surpassed Dawlat Zadran (14) to become Afghanistan’s top wicket-taker in the ODI World Cup.
England’s performance at the World Cup was also marred by unwanted statistics. A total of 13 wickets were claimed by spinners in the recent clash between Afghanistan and England. Only two matches in World Cup history have seen more than 13 wickets taken by spinners: Kenya’s encounter with Sri Lanka (14 wickets) in the 2003 World Cup and Canada’s match against Zimbabwe (14 wickets) at the 2011 World Cup. In a World Cup match, England lost eight wickets to spinners for the first time in the history of the tournament.
The 69-run triumph by Afghanistan over England witnessed Afghan spinners securing the highest number of wickets (8) in a World Cup inning. The spin maestro Rashid Khan registered the fourth-best bowling figures for Afghanistan at the World Cup. Notably, in 2019, Rashid Khan had posted the most expensive bowling figures in World Cup history against England, going wicketless and conceding 110 runs in 9 overs at that time
