England thrash Afghanistan to reach World T20 last eight

The T20 World Cup champions got their title defence off to the best possible start thanks to a crushing 116 run victory against Afghanistan at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

The minnows crashed out of the tournament after they were dismissed for just 80 after Luke Wright (99) had helped England record an imposing total of 196-5 after they had been put into bat by the Afghans.

Samit Patel (2-6), Stuart Broad (2-10) and Greame Swann (2-22) led the way with two wickets a piece as England’s bowlers run rough shot over the Afghanistan despite an entertaining cameo from Gulbodin Naib (44) towards the end of the innings.

Wright scored 99 runs from 55 deliveries which included eight boundaries and six sixes to help England recover after the early loss of Craig Kieswetter (0) who was dismissed by Shapoor Zadran () at the end of the first over.

Ales Hales (31) quickly followed after he was run out at the non-strikers end after he was caught backing up but Wright and Eoin Morgan (27) steadied the innings with a 3rd wicket stand of 72.

Having picked up two early wickets and put England on the bat foot, the Afgans were unable to keep the pressure on the defending champs thanks to Wright and cameos innings from Jos Buttler (15) and Jonny Bairstow (12), Reuters reports.