England ride Curran’s five, ease past Afghans

NEW DELHI: Ten days after his three-wicket burst guided England to a seven-run win over Australia in Canberra, Sam Curran starred with the ball again as England coasted to a five-wicket win over Afghanistan in Perth.

Curran’s maiden T20I five-for broke the back of Afghan batting that gasped for momentum throughout before folding for 112 in 19.4 overs.

England’s big-hitters too struggled for fluency but the below-par total was never going to put them under any pressure, reaching 113/5 in 18.1 overs with a late push delivered by Liam Livingstone

(29* off 21b).

Afghanistan lost their first wicket in the third over and made just 35 runs in the powerplay. Ben Stokes chipped in with two wickets as did Mark Wood.

Curran, introduced in the eighth over, removed the wellset Ibrahim Zadran and Usman Ghani before sending back Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan and Fazalhaq Farooqi, conceding 10 runs in 3.4 overs.

112 in 19.4 overs (I Zadran 32; S Curran 5/10) lost to 113/5 in 18.1 overs (L Livingstone 29*) by 5 wickets.