Afghanistan eliminates England from Champions Trophy with 8-run win

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Afghanistan eliminated ragged England from the Champions Trophy with a stunning eight-run victory on Wednesday.

Opening batter Ibrahim Zadran smashed the tournament’s highest-ever individual score of 177 off 146 balls with 12 fours and six sixes and led Afghanistan to 325-7.

England was bowled out for 317 with Joe Root's 120 off 111 balls going in vain.

Root had kept England in the hunt, but once he gloved fast bowler Azmat Omarzai (5-58) behind the wickets in the 46th over, Afghanistan kept its nerve despite a few fumbles in the field to record a memorable win with one ball to spare.

It was Afghanistan's second win against England in a major 50-over ICC tournament; it recorded a 69-run victory in the 2023 World Cup in India.

“As a team we are happy and I’m sure the whole nation will be happy with this win,” Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said.

“The beauty of our team is we have talented youngsters and at the same time we have senior guys who are at the top level. Hopefully we take this momentum with us for the next game against Australia.”

Afghanistan must beat two-time champion Australia in its last Group B match at the same venue Friday to seal its second straight semifinal in an ICC tournament after playing last year's T20 World Cup playoffs.

England, which lost a high-scoring game to Australia at the same venue, will wrap up its disappointing run in the tournament with the match against semifinal contender South Africa at Karachi on Saturday.

Root held the chase together after England lost Phil Salt (12) and newly promoted No. 3 Jamie Smith (9) in a wobbly start to a tall chase.

Omarzai knocked back the top of Salt’s stumps in his second over and England’s experiment with Smith at No. 3 didn’t work for second straight game when he skied Mohammad Nabi’s (2-57) first ball to Omarzai at backward point.

Ben Duckett, who hit 165 against Australia last Saturday, couldn’t capitalize on a dropped catch at 30 before Rashid Khan (1-66) had won a leg before wicket through television review, but captain Jos Buttler (38) put the chase back on track with 83-run partnership with Root.

Omarzai broke the threatening stand in his return spell when Buttler top-edged the fast bowler just after Root had raised his century off 98 balls with 10 fours.

Afghanistan was sloppy in the field for a while but Omarzai's dismissals of Root and Jamie Overton (32) sealed the win. Omarzai completed his five-wicket haul when Zadran caught No. 10 Adil Rashid.

“Another fantastic game of cricket, but disappointing to come out on the wrong side,” Buttler said. “He (Root) played an unbelievable innings tonight (but) he needed one of the other top six batters to stay in with him and take the game deeper.”

The 23-year-old Zadran absorbed the pressure of losing three wickets inside the batting powerplay and anchored Afghanistan to a strong total with his sixth ODI hundred.

Jofra Archer’s (3-64) triple strike in his first five overs had reduced Afghanistan to 39-3 with fast bowler Mark Wood (0-50) also squeezing the runs in his tidy four-over spell for 14 runs before struggling in his return spell with his left knee heavily strapped.

Zadran, who returned to international cricket in this tournament after ankle surgery in September, and Shahidi (40) revived Afghanistan with a 103-run partnership. But Shahidi misjudged the length of leg-spinner Rashid while going for a reverse sweep and was clean bowled.

Zadran pushed up the scoring rate with better than run-a-ball 72-run partnership with Omarzai, who made 41 off 31 balls.

Zadran continued to bat with lot of determination and charged against Archer and Wood in the final 10 overs once he completed his century off 106 balls.

He smashed Archer for 20 runs in one over with a straight six and followed it up with three cracking boundaries behind point as Afghanistan notched 113 runs off the final 60 balls.

Nabi scored 40 with three sixes and two fours and Zadran smashed Archer for 20 runs in one over that featured straight six and three crisp boundaries behind point.

Zadran surpassed Duckett’s record of 165 made against Australia last Saturday with another attractive straight six against Archer as the fast bowler was smashed for 43 runs off his final five overs.

“I wanted to bat longer and longer and that 177 is a special moment for me,” Zadran said.

Wood also struggled in his four-over spell with pain in his knees and went for 36 runs off his four overs before Livingstone stepped in to bowl the final over. The spinner conceded just two runs and had Zadran caught at deep backward square leg and Nabi holed out at deep mid-wicket.

“They got away from us there in the last 10 overs," Buttler said. “Credit to Ibrahim, he played a fantastic innings. If we look back and reflect, 113 off the last 10 pushed them up to a score that was a very good on that pitch.”

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Afghanistan's Ibrahim Zadran celebrates after scoring century during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Afghanistan and England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai bats during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Afghanistan and England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Afghanistan's Ibrahim Zadran celebrates after scoring century during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Afghanistan and England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Afghanistan's Ibrahim Zadran celebrates after scoring century during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Afghanistan and England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi, center, celebrates with teammates after dismissal of England's Harry Brook during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Afghanistan and England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai celebrates after winning the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match against England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai, center on shoulder, and teammates celebrate after winning the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match against England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi, second right, celebrates with teammates after dismissal of England's Harry Brook during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Afghanistan and England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

England's Jamie Overton bats during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Afghanistan and England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai, right, celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of England's Joe Root during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Afghanistan and England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Afghanistan's Gulbadin Naib, second right, celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of England's Liam Livingstone during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Afghanistan and England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

England's Liam Livingstone, right, reacts as Afghanistan's Gulbadin Naib, left, celebrates after his dismissal during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Afghanistan and England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Afghanistan's Ibrahim Zadran plays a shot during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Afghanistan and England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Afghanistan's Ibrahim Zadran celebrates after scoring 150 runs during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Afghanistan and England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

England's Liam Livingstone, right, celebrates with teammate after the dismissal of Australia's Matthew Short during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Australia and England, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

ROME (AP) — For AC Milan, it could be the only way to qualify for Europe.

For Inter Milan, it’s the least important of the three competitions that the Nerazzurri are still competing in this season.

The rival clubs are in completely opposite forms entering the first leg of their Italian Cup semifinal on Wednesday.

Milan was virtually eliminated from contesting for the Champions League spots with a 2-1 loss at Napoli in Serie A on Sunday that left the Rossoneri in ninth place — nine points behind fourth-place Bologna, which faces Empoli in the other semifinal on Tuesday.

Winning the Italian Cup guarantees a Europa League spot.

“It’s very frustrating, because we didn’t deserve this defeat,” Milan coach Sergio Conceicao said, referring to how Milan nearly equalized with some late fight at Napoli. “We want to change the outlook and on Wednesday we have the chance to do so.”

It will be the fourth derby of the season after Milan won the first two, followed by a draw.

Milan’s 2-1 win in Serie A in September served as a wakeup call for defending champion Inter, which now leads the Italian league. Then in January Milan came back from two goals down for a 3-2 win over Inter in the Italian Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia. The most recent meeting was a 1-1 draw in Serie A last month.

Milan hasn't won much else of importance this season, having been eliminated from the Champions League playoffs by Feyenoord last month.

Inter visits Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals next week and coach Simone Inzaghi recently raised the prospect of a treble like the one that Inter achieved under Jose Mourinho in 2010.

Although now he’s going one step further, adding the Club World Cup starting in June in the United States as another season goal.

“It’s more accurate to say four,” Inzaghi said of the possible number of titles that Inter can win.

Inter held on to its Serie A lead with a 2-1 win over Udinese on Sunday despite missing injured striker Lautaro Martinez, who picked up a knock with Argentina during the international break.

Lautaro will likely be unavailable again, although key defender Alessandro Bastoni could return from injury and link up again with Federico Dimarco on the right flank. Dimarco set up both of Inter’s goals against Udinese.

Milan will likely have Rafael Leao back in the starting lineup after the Portugal winger came off the bench against Napoli.

But Milan will still be without midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who underwent an appendectomy on Sunday.

Bologna has won five straight matches in Serie A and is on course to qualify for the Champions League for a second consecutive season.

Empoli eliminated Juventus in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals.

Bologna's only two Italian Cup titles came in 1970 and 1974, while Empoli has never won anything better than its three Serie B titles.

The Italian league will test in-stadium announcements explaining VAR decisions during the Italian Cup matches.

It will be the first time such a system is used in Italian soccer although it has already been trialed in England and Germany.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Inter Milan's head coach Simone Inzaghi argues with a referee as he received a red card during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Udinese at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter players thank the fans after a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Udinese at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)