England and Afghanistan are currently facing each other in the 24th match of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at Old Trafford, Manchester.
Batting first, Jonny Bairstow along with his new opening partner James Vince added 44 runs for the first wicket. Dawlat Zadran drew the first blood for Afghanistan as he removed Vince for 26. Bairstow and Joe Root then stitched 120 runs for the second wicket to put the hosts in a dominant position.
Both Bairstow and Root missed their respective centuries by 10 and 12 runs respectively. Afterwards, it was all about England skipper Eoin Morgan’s brutal exhibition of batsmanship. The platform was set for him and Morgan made his intention clear right from the outset. He hit boundaries at will to notch up his century in just 57 balls – the fourth fastest in the history of World Cup.
During his carnage on Afghanistan bowlers, Morgan also created the world record for hitting most number of sixes in an ODI innings. His knock was laced with 17 sixes apart from 4 fours. Morgan’s counterpart Gulbadin Naib dismissed him in 47th over but not before the southpaw etched his name in the history book with a jaw-dropping innings of 148 in just 71 deliveries.
Although England lost Jos Buttler (2) and Ben Stokes (2) cheaply, Moeen Ali came up with a brilliant cameo (31 off 9 balls) to help the home team pile up a mammoth 397/6 in 50 overs.
Cricket experts on Twitter were left speechless by the breathtaking batting display of English skipper.
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