ODI World Cup digest: Afghanistan pull off historic victory; Australia’s hopes on a knife edge

The Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 takes place in India from October 5 to November 19. Every morning, we’ll round up the latest action and news from the event and bring you the perspectives of our journalists on the ground.

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Featured: The big upset – Afghanistan bring World Cup to life with England conquest

Afghanistan 284 (Gurbaz 80, Alikhil 58, Adil Rashid 3-42) beaten England 215 (Brook 66, Rashid Khan 3-37, Mujeeb 3-51) by 69 runs

Afghanistan claimed the most famous scalp in their international history and, in doing so, provided the first major shock of the 2023 World Cup, beating world champions England by 69 points in a masterclass of spin-and- seam in the Delhi spotlight.

Their dominance was sparked by a fearless display of power from 21-year-old Rahmanullah Gurbaz, whose 80 off 57 had promised much more until an exhaustion cut him short at his peak. But Ikram Alikhil rallied Afghanistan’s lower order with a valuable half-century in his first match of this year’s World Cup, after which they decided to make the target of 285 seem too dark and distant as England’s hopes of defending their title must now be.

Click here for the full report

Match analysis: Forget Bazball, it was Gurbazball

The ball skidded past Mark Wood’s bat and into the stumps, and Rashid Khan stood with his arms outstretched, arching his back and facing the night sky. It was a moment to savor, one that would reverberate across Delhi, India and far beyond: Afghanistan had not only beaten the world champions, but had beaten them.

It was the performance of a team without fear or inhibition, attacking first with the bat and then with the ball. Afghanistan had won once in their previous 17 World Cup matches, a one-wicket victory over Scotland eight years ago: they were a team that had nothing to lose, that had everything won.

Amid political unrest and humanitarian crises, India has become Afghanistan’s second home. This evening, the most famous as a sporting nation, took place in front of more than 25,000 supporters in a city with a large Afghan diaspora. Many of them waved Afghan flags and danced at the same time. Afghan Jalebi played over the PA system.

Read Matt Roller’s full analysis in Delhi

England have been on the wrong end of big upsets at ICC events and have been shocked once again at this World Cup, by Afghanistan in Delhi. Which of these defeats was the most surprising? Click here to vote

What to Watch: Aaron Finch on Pat Cummins

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Finch: “Everyone on the team respects Cummins and his tactics”

Is Cummins under pressure as captain? Aaron Finch has his say

News headlines

Match Preview

Australia vs Sri Lanka, Lucknow (2 p.m. IST; 8:30 a.m. GMT; 7:30 p.m. AEST)

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Kumble on Australia’s limited-spin attack

He explains why Maxwell was successful and what Zampa’s problem is

Even in a tournament with nine group stage matches that allow for one or two mistakes, you don’t want to be 0-3 at the start of the competition. But that is exactly the situation Australia and Sri Lanka will face after they clash in Lucknow in what is already shaping up to be a contest to keep realistic semi-final hopes alive. It’s been a tough start for both teams, but two points from this match will reignite the belief that they can still challenge for the top four.

Full overview

Team News

Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Josh Inglis (week), 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (captain), 10 Adam Zampa, 11Josh Hazlewood

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Kusal Mendis (captain, week), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Dunith Wellalage, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11Dilshan Madoushanka

Report: Tired and tested: Australia’s challenges at this World Cup

It’s undoubtedly a view colored by recent results and the tendency of journalists to yearn for shiny new things to say, but there is a certain jadedness to Australia’s ODI set-up. While other teams – India, for example – have destroyed their ODI model and started again more than once in the last two World Cup cycles, Australia continues to play the way they have always played. They have an explosive line-up supported by a pair of busy anchors, and they trust their best – which usually translates to Test – fast bowlers, whatever the conditions.

Read the full article by Karthik Krishnaswamy in Lucknow