England’s Luke Wright hit an unbeaten 99 off 55 balls to guide his side to an easy 116-run victory over Afghanistan who appeared set for a record low before a late fightback in their World T20 clash in Colombo on Friday.
The English batted first and posted an insurmountable 5/196 with Wright leading the way, while Alex Hales hit 31 off 27 and Eoin Morgan 27 off 23.
Afghanistan looked set for a T20 low in response as they slumped to 8/26 before a gutsy knock from Gulbodin Naib who managed 44 off 32 saw them reach 80.
Stuart Broad (2/10), Jade Dernbach (2/16), Samit Patel (2/6) and Graeme Swann (2/22) got the wickets.
Broad said about Wright: “It’ll do his confidence the world of good. He showed a huge amount of maturity.
“I think he’s developed as a cricketer over the last couple of years. He’s played all around the world and that experience showed today.”
Wright, who fell agonisingly short of a England T20 first century, added: “It was a bit of a special evening. It’s something that I’ve wanted to do. I was desperate to get back in and try to win games for England.”