England have moved up to second in Super 10 Group 1 at the World Twenty20 and kept alive their hopes of winning the tournament by scraping past Afghanistan in Delhi.
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After splitting their opening two games of the tournament against West Indies and South Africa, Eoin Morgan won the toss against the group minnows today and opted to bat at Feroz Shah Kotla, a ground hosting its first ever international T20 contest.
After a steady enough start, England's innings dramatically collapsed in the sixth over when three key wickets – James Vince (22), Morgan (0) and Joe Root (12) – fell in the space of four balls off the bowling of Mohammad Nabi.
Danger-men Jos Buttler (6) and Ben Stokes (7) also had short stints at the crease, leaving England 57-6, before Moeen Ali led the way as the tail spared the top-order's blushes.
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Ali top-scored with an unbeaten 41 and he was assisted by bowlers Chris Jordan (15) and David Willey (20*) as England managed to salvage a score of 142-7 from their 20 overs.
Afghanistan keeper Mohammad Shahzad had starred in previous matches but he lasted just three balls as Willey trapped him lbw in the first over.
It was a blow to Afghanistan's hopes of causing a big upset and from that point on England's attack dominated the contest, eventually restricting their opponents to 127-9.
Willey and Adil Rashid both picked up two wickets, while Liam Plunkett, chosen ahead of Reece Topley, impressed by conceding only 12 runs from his four overs.
England's final match of the group is against Sri Lanka, also in Delhi, on Saturday.
Pascal Lemesre
