ICC Champions Trophy, 2025 [ Feb 19 - Mar 09 ]

Afghanistan have picked up their first win. Pakistan, Bangladesh and now England are out of CT 2025. Azmatullah was awarded the ICC ODI player of the year and you know why! He turned the game around with the bat first and then struck five blows to dwarf Root's ton. Afghanistan and their big runs in ICC events continue. They would be chuffed with this win.

You have to feel for Joe Root who is cutting a particularly disconsolate figure right now. In truth, he pretty much kept England in that chase single-handedly with other batters getting in and getting out once more. Buttler, Overton, Brook and Duckett all gave it away when well set. It’s been a familiar tale for England of late, they’ve now lost nine of their ten white ball matches this year and have slipped to seventh position in the ODI rankings. Poor old Jos Buttler will have to speak shortly in full knowledge that the knives are going to be out for him. I sincerely doubt he’ll flash us a smile.

Ibrahim Zadran | Player of the Match:
I was expecting that, I wanted to grab one good catch for the team. Whenever I grabbed it (the winning catch), that feeling was great. It means a lot to me, as much as you work hard, I was having trust on myself and I wanted to keep on batting. That 177 is a special moment for me. We have played here last time in Asia Cup, so I had the idea. I wanted to take time and play proper cricketing shots and that worked for me so I’m happy. When you win a game, it gives you a lot of energy and it gives you confidence. We will try to play even better play in the next game. We will be playing against Australia so we will try to do as less mistakes as possible. We will have a plan and do our best.

What to expect:
Lahore has hosted 10 ODIs since 2022, with chasing teams winning five of them. The average first-innings score in this period stands at 300. In this tournament, Australia made light work of England's 351 in a commanding chase, while Afghanistan successfully defended 325 in a tense finish. There is a forecast for light rain, but conditions are expected to improve in the second half, when the match is scheduled.

20:50 Local Time, 15:50 GMT, 21:20 IST:
Well, well, well.. The umpires had a look at the outfield and they reckon it is too damp for any cricket to resume. They go up to the dressing rooms and are shaking hands with the skippers. The game has been called off.