By Frank Dalleres
England captain Jos Buttler insists his team will come back fighting after a shock 69-run defeat to Afghanistan left the Cricket World Cup holders on the brink of elimination
Harry Brook’s 66 off 61 was the sole highlight of a dreadful day for England in Delhi as they were dismissed for 215 with nine overs to spare in pursuit of Afghanistan’s 285.
A second defeat at the tournament in India inflicted a major blow to England’s hopes of progressing to the knockout stage and defending their title.
“It’s a tough loss to take. Congratulations to Afghanistan, they outplayed us today,” said Buttler, who hit just nine runs.
“They are a really skilful attack with some fantastic spin bowlers. They put us under lots of pressure and we weren’t quite good enough today.
“You’ve got to let these defeats hurt, reflect and work on the areas we need to do better. We’ve got lots of resilience and we’ll come back fighting.”
Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz starred with 80 off 57 balls as Afghanistan, coached by former England batter Jonathan Trott, put themselves on course for a famous win.
Sam Curran and Chris Woakes went for more than 40 runs apiece off four wicketless overs each as Buttler’s team toiled in the field.
Dawid Malan, who made 32, was the only player aside from Brook to score more than 10 runs among England’s first eight batters.
England, who were again without the injured Ben Stokes, lie fifth in the 10-team table and face South Africa next on Saturday in Mumbai.
