England beats Afghanistan by 9 wickets

Sydney: England beat Afghanistan by nine wickets in a rain-affected Pool A match on Friday to recover a little bit of pride from a disastrous World Cup campaign.

England’s batsmen scored quickly to chase down the revised target of 101 off 25 overs after England’s bowlers, led by Chris Jordan (2-13) and Ravi Bopara (2-31), restricted Afghanistan to 111-7 off 36.2 overs at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Ian Bell scored 52 not out and combined for an 83-run stand with Alex Hales (37) to make light work of the small target.

England was aiming to end its tournament on a positive note after being removed from quarterfinal contention in a 15-run loss to Bangladesh on Monday.