The 26-year-old England National Cricket Team batting sensation Harry Brook was absolutely shattered after his failure with the bat in the match against Afghanistan National Cricket Team on Wednesday, February 26.
The 8th match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 between Group B teams – England and Afghanistan – is currently underway at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
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Harry Brook falls for a low score against Afghanistan
Brook, who is regarded as the next big thing in English cricket, has been going through a lean patch in his career. Heading into the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Brook featured in a three-match ODI series against India and he failed miserably.
In the ODI series opener in Nagpur, he bagged a duck and followed it up with scores of 31 and 19 in the next two matches in Cuttack and Ahmedabad.
After the India series, it was expected that things would get better for Harry Brook as England headed to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, as the pitches in the country generally offer a lot of assistance to the batters.
However, in England’s opening match against the arch-rivals Australia, Brook bagged a low score of 3 in Lahore. Meanwhile, in the ongoing match against the Afghans, he looked significantly better, but he failed to convert his start into a big score.
Brook was dismissed on the 4th ball of the 22nd over by the veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi. The spinner deceived Brook with a slower delivery as the batter was early into the punch and hit the ball straight back to Nabi, who completed the catch easily.
A disappointed Harry Brook walked back to the hut with 25 runs under his belt off 21 balls, with 3 fours. After some time when the camera panned towards him in the dressing room, he was seen putting his hand on his face in frustration and looked absolutely shattered.
Watch: Harry Brook’s painful reaction after yet another flop show goes viral
— Drizzyat12Kennyat8 (@45kennyat7PM) February 26, 2025
What happened in the previous ODI match between Afghanistan and England?
The last ODI match between England and Afghanistan was played in Delhi on October 15 during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
In that game, Afghanistan pulled off one of the biggest upsets in history by defeating the defending champions, England, by a huge margin of 69 runs.
After being invited to bat first, Afghanistan posted a competitive total of 284 before being bowled out in 49.5 overs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz was the top performer with his explosive 80-run innings off 57 balls. The young opener set the tone with his aggressive batting, smashing England’s bowlers all over the park.
Gurbaz was well-supported by Ikram Alikhil, who played a crucial innings of 58 while Mujeeb Ur Rahman (28) and Rashid Khan’s (23) cameos helped Afghanistan finish strongly. For England, the veteran leg-spinner Adil Rashid (3/42) was the most effective bowler.
Chasing the target, England never had momentum on their side as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Harry Brook (66 off 61) fought a lone battle, but Afghanistan’s bowlers applied relentless pressure and bowled out England for 215 in 40.3 overs.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman (3/51) and Rashid Khan (3/37) spun a web around the English batting unit, while Mohammad Nabi (2/16) delivered an exceptionally economical spell. Also, pacers Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi picked up one wicket each to help Afghanistan register their first-ever triumph over England in ODIs.
