Sam Curran took the first five-wicket haul by an Englishman in Twenty 20 internationals to help England beat Afghanistan in the cricket T20 World Cup on Saturday.
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Curran was playing in his 30th T20 international. He returned a career-best 5-10 from 3.4 overs with his left-arm medium fast pace to skittle Afghanistan for 112 runs. England won the game in the Super 12 stage by five wickets with 11 balls to spare in Perth.
“I was not aware of that,” the 24-year-old Curran said of his achievement after being named man of the match. He said it was a “fantastic win for us and a great way to start.”
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Curran praised England’s swing and seam quartet.
Until Curran came on to bowl his first delivery in the eighth over, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood kept the Afghanistan innings in check.
“It is a great bowling group to be part of,” Curran said. “Really enjoying the atmosphere in the group.”
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Curran’s five-wicket haul came on the back of his recent 3-25 against Australia in Canberra in a warmup game for the World Cup.
“Most importantly we got the win (Saturday),” Curran said. “Just trying to be adaptable as possible and give the group bowling a different option … We’ll keep working hard for the rest of the tournament.”
England’s next games are against Ireland on Wednesday and defending champion Australia on Friday.