England vs Afghanistan, 24th match at Manchester, , Jun 18 2019 - Ball by Ball Commentary

6.35pm: Okay, that's your lot for this one. Sheriff Morgan and his six-shooter laid down the law at Old Trafford today, and sent his team riding off into the sunset with the points. Afghanistan battled admirably, and have some plusses to take into their next match against India (gulp!), but this was as comprehensive as results come. We'll have Danyal's report on the site soon, and join us again tomorrow for a real crunch clash, New Zealand v South Africa at Edgbaston, a game around which the whole tournament could pivot. From myself, Varun and Thilak, it's goodbye for now!

6.25pm: Time for the captains, starting with Gulbadin Naib: "Yeah, obviously how they played, [Morgan's was] one of the best innings I ever seen. Our plan when we saw the wicket, different to the last four games, it suited the spinners and Mujeeb did a good job. Unfortunately Rashid was expensive, not at his best, so England scored around 400. We did a lot of good things but we dropped Morgan, so this is the main point for us. We work hard in every department and are improving day by day, but we have work to do. [Attempting to chase?] Big target but our message was play your normal game, don't think about win or lose, play the 50 overs. Maybe we then have a chance. We played 50 overs, so that's a good thing for our batters."

Morgan is back for more: "Our next two three games are crucial. Want to bring our intensity to every game, we were at the top of four game today. If we can bring that to Headingley against Sri Lanka, then we go on to play Australia in good form. I think the intensity can still be there, you can still produce mistakes. [Dropped catches?] We did spill a couple of catches, which can happen, hopefully it doesn't continue. But I can't fault the guys. [Archer and Wood?] Throw Stokes in there, bowling 90mph as well as the moment. Having guys competing that level is amazing."

6.15pm: England go top of the table, while Afghanistan stay rooted to the bottom. There was a mini pitch invasion at the end there, with one Afghan fan taking a selfie with some of the England players, apparently. They are just happy to be there - and happy their side batted through a full 50 overs, which is a decent milestone for them, giving they had a snowball's chance in hell of making 398. It was a decent outing for the England captain, too, amid a record-breaking deluge of sixes - fittingly, Morgan's 148 was pretty much the margin between the sides.

For that knock, Eoin Morgan is named Man of the Match: "Today was a fantastic day for us, and I managed to have a day out, which was great,. The wicket was good, we bowled well in the first ten overs, our openers batted really. A good day all round. I didn't think it was going to be my day. Hobbling around with a bad back, didn't think I'd produce an innings like that. Makes it a bit more special when i can compete with the youngsters in the side. It was nice. It started out as a tough game, Afghanistan are a side with potential, so it's nice to do it on the big stage. [Used to play more funky shots?] I think I have changed, everybody plays the shots I started my career with, so that they're not as effective. I'm probably stronger down the ground now than I ever have been. [Back okay now?] Yeah, tomorrow's going to be a rough day."

They can't be bowled out now, either...

Dawlat Zadran comes out for the last two balls

One more over. Afghanistan are almost there

Here's Fidlerrr: "One thing this WC is showing is that England are NOT flat track bullies as some thought, otherwise why are they the only team getting large scores at this tournament. This game played on the same track as India v Pakistan also."

Couple more to go. I'm beginning to think Afghanistan aren't going to get these

"250 is a decent enough score for any team," opines Bipul. "It's just that England team was too good."

dubravka: "England, please let Afghanistan bat the whole 50 overs." Three more sets of six to go... Afghanistan could still bring the margin down below three figures