Afghanistan continued their meteoric rise in the world of cricket as they beat 2019 World Cup winners England in their second Group B game of Champions Trophy 2025. With the match being a virtual knockout game, Afghanistan defeated England by eight runs in a thriller. This was Afghanistan's second successive win over England in a 50-over ICC tournament, having beaten them in the 2023 World Cup as well. Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan then won hearts by doing his signature dance steps to celebrate Afghanistan's win.
Taking to social media, Irfan Pathan posted a video of him dancing to the tunes of Bollywood song 'Afghan Jalebi'. "Another ICC win against England from Afghanistan. Well done!" is how Pathan captioned his Instagram post.
The dance has become somewhat of a custom in recent years, with Pathan having done the same in 2023 when Afghanistan beat England in the World Cup.
On that occasion, Pathan had danced with Afghanistan's talisman Rashid Khan. This time, Rashid was quick to jokingly point out why they weren't dancing together.
"Bhai jan mere baghair dance haha (Brother, dancing without me?). Thank you bhai always for support and love," replied Rashid Khan to Pathan's post.
Pathan's dance went viral on Instagram, racking up over 600,000 likes within the first 10 hours of being posted.
Afghanistan vs England, Champions Trophy 2025: As it happened
With both sides needing a win to stay alive in the semi-final race, Afghanistan once again proved why a victory for them should now not be considered an upset.
Batting first, Afghanistan recovered from a shaky start to pile on 325 in 50 overs. Opener Ibrahim Zadran played a mighty knock of 177 off just 146 balls. The innings is now the highest individual score by a batter in Champions Trophy history.
In response, England always appeared to be in the run chase, but could not get over the line in the end, with Afghanistan taking wickets at crucial intervals.
Joe Root played a masterful 111-ball 120, and was aided by handy knocks from Jos Buttler (38), Ben Duckett (38) and Jamie Overton. However, it wasn't enough.
Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai starred with the ball in hand. Having earlier slammed a 31-ball 41, Omarzai then scalped five wickets, including the crucial ones of Root, Overton and Adil Rashid in the final five overs.
Afghanistan face Australia on February 28, in what will be another virtual knockout game in Group B.
from NDTV Sports-Cricket
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