T20 World Cup: Sam Curran becomes first England bowler to register rare feat in T20Is

The England Cricket team is currently locking horns against Afghanistan in their opening match of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia. England bowler Sam Curran registered a rare feat in the game as he put on an amazing performance with the ball to pick up a five-wicket haul. Curran became the first England men's bowler to take a T20I five-for as he picked five wickets for 10 runs in just 3.4 overs.

Curran dismissed Ibrahim Zadran (32), Usman Ghani (30), Azmatullah Omarzai (8), Rashid Khan (0), and Fazhalhaq Farooqi (0) to register his maiden five-wicket haul in the format and become the first England bowler to do so. To pick his fifth wicket, Curran bowled a perfect outside off yorker to Farooqi, who opened his bat face to play a shot but ended up giving a catch to Dawid Malan at backward point. 

 "I didn't expect to be walking off like that. We had plans with these boundaries and dimensions as well. The catches and fielding would be a huge factor in the tournament. I was challenged and asked to be ready to bowl in all faces... really enjoying contributing to the team," Curran said after the end of the first innings on Saturday. 

England vs Afghanistan

As far as the match is concerned, England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to field first at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). England bowlers were right on the money as they rarely gave Afghanistan batters a breathing chance. England bowled Afghanistan out for a low score of 111 runs. Apart from Curran, Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, and Chris Woakes also contributed with the ball as they picked five wickets between them. 

While Stokes and Wood picked two wickets each, Woakes scalped one wicket to his name. Adil Rashid was the only bowler for England who proved to be a little bit expensive as he conceded 32 runs in his quota of four overs and that too without taking a single wicket. Apart from Ibrahim Zadran, Usman Ghani, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Najibullah Zadran, none of the Afghanistan batters was able to reach the two-digit mark. 

Image: ecb.co.uk