England are very close to victory in this game as they have scored 43 runs in 7 overs. To win against team like England, Afghanistan must have scored 150+ runs. Sam Curran 5 wickets in 3.4 overs did the job for England. With this performance Afghanistan won't progress in tournament.
Afghanistan couldn't finish the way they started, allowing England to take advantage of everything. When any team has a target of small total then they are pressure free and win the match. Now England are playing pressure free and are close to victory. England need 54 runs in 66 balls, 8 wickets in hand.
England are too strong in t20 format and Afghanistan is still evolving in international cricket. Time is running out for Afghanistan team to improve there performance otherwise they will be like Bangladesh forever. Batting of Afghanistan failed completely today as they are all out on 112.
There is no doubt that England are strong in T20. But I said if Afghanistan could have scored 140-150 then the result could have been something else. At the start of the game it looked like England would easily win by a huge margin, but it didn't look that easy in the end. Afghanistan's bowling line-up is really strong, they took the game to 18 overs with such a small score, which is certainly worthy of praise.
Afghanistan is a much better team than Bangladesh in T20 format, if you look at Afghanistan's past performances and Bangladesh's, then you will understand how far Afghanistan has progressed in this format.
As far as I am concerned, the game was really low-scoring from my point of view. There is simply no way England can compete with a team like Afghanistan because they are too powerful. While Afghanistan is quite a competent team in the T20 format, they are no match for a quality team like England in the tournament. In particular, Sam Curran had a great night with the ball as he was able to take five wickets for only 10 runs in the 3.4 overs he bowled. As a result, England had no problem chasing that small target down, and they won the match by five wickets in hand.
Although England is a strong team but we should not underestimate the Afghanistan team too. They have the capability of beating any competent team on any given day. In this match, Afghanistan did bowl well but unfortunately, their batting disappoint them. However, I am sure that they will learn from their mistakes and will come back strong in their upcoming matches.
Afghanistan's next match will be against NZ on October 26 in Melbourne. Though NZ defeated Aussie in the first Super 12 match, I won't blindly bet on NZ team for this match as I know that Afghanistan has the capability of turning the table on any day.
