After their opening defeat by ­Australia, England convinced themselves they were unlucky; that Lahore’s ­lurching conditions were to blame and the signs were still good. Instead, that bubble of positivity burst when their Champions Trophy hopes – and in all likelihood Jos Buttler’s captaincy – were terminated by Afghanistan.

Though an undulating, nerve-shredding eight‑run defeat that was settled only in the final over, this was no freak result, rather a form-bereft side that was simply out-willed and outskilled on the day. Afghanistan, the team many believe should be kicked off cricket’s top table, were deserved winners.

As Buttler admitted in the post-match press conference , the all-conquering England side he inherited from Eoin Morgan would probably have got over the line here. But despite Joe Root’s first one‑day international century since those heady days – a frictionless 120 from 111 balls – they stumbled in pursuit of 326 as a more varied attack turned the screw.

Azmatullah Omarzai completed the win, his five-wicket haul, and remarkable all-round performance by removing Adil Rashid with the ­penultimate ball. But this match was just as much settled by a first innings that exposed England’s shortcomings: a batter‑heavy lineup that could ill afford Mark Wood sustaining a worrying knee injury.

From 37 for three, Ibrahim Zadran’s stellar 177 from 146 balls – plus a ­couple of ruinous 40s from ­Azmatullah and Mohammad Nabi – stuck an ­imposing 326 for seven on the board. The innings having been flipped upside down, Buttler’s men staggered off the field at the change of innings looking like survivors from the SS Poseidon.

Only Root kept his cool thereafter, with a team that appear to have lost the rhythm of 50-over cricket– certainly when compared to Zadran ­earlier on – repeatedly taking the wrong option. See Phil Salt, a Twenty20 opener it ­increasingly appears, attempting a wild hack off Azmatullah’s right-arm seamers on 12 and hearing his bails trimmed.

Jamie Smith, a late switch to No 3 on the eve the tournament, fared little better, the first of two victims to the wily Nabi. The right-hander, light on List A experience since the dawn of the Hundred and the relegation of the 50-over Cup to second-tier status, tried to take down the off-spinner’s very first ball only to squirt it to ­backward point.

With the stands of the Gaddafi ­Stadium filled with Afghan supporters, the decibel levels only went higher when Rashid Khan pinned Ben Duckett lbw for 38 and Brook’s winter of spin misery continued with a chip back to Nabi. Enter Buttler, ­joining Root in the middle at 133 for four in the 22nd over and aware he was likely batting for his job.

Though Buttler was scratchy at first, surviving a tight umpire’s call for lbw on nine, a stand of 83 ­developed. But when his top-edged pull to ­midwicket on 38 was followed by Liam Livingstone’s latest disappearing act, the captain could only look on from the dressing room and pray that Root could marshal the lower order.

A stand of 54 with Jamie Overton did put England within striking distance here, only for both men to fall and leave the tail exposed. Afghanistan – so well drilled under their head coach, Jonathan Trott, and having claimed England’s scalp during the 2023 World Cup – were simply the team to hold their nerve thereafter.

If anyone embodied the turnaround in the first innings – beyond Zadran – it was possibly Archer. Nipping out three for 22 in an initial six-over burst, his last four then travelled for 42 as the wheels came off at large. Buttler needed more from his attack leader here, not least with Wood grimacing his way through that injury.

Striking in Wood’s fourth over, and leaving him struggling through four more, it exposed an attack already short on wriggle room. And bar Rashid, England have become ­increasingly toothless in the ­middle overs since Liam Plunkett walked off a World Cup winner in 2019. Here they were practically all gums.

None of this should detract from Zadran, who paced his sixth ODI ­century superbly. And unlike ­Duckett’s 165 against Australia four days ­earlier – his record Champions Trophy score eclipsed here – there was impetus from the other end fol­lowing an initial rebuild with ­Hashmatullah Shahidi (40) that added 103 for the fourth wicket.

First came Azmatullah, walloping three sixes in a 31-ball 41, followed by Nabi’s 41 from 24. Nabi, the old warhorse – conqueror of 45 countries ­during his side’s remarkable rise from the refugee camps – helped to pummel 23 runs off Root in the 47th over, his stand with Zadran overall worth 111 in just 55 balls.

Afghanistan’s two all-rounders were not done there, however, the pair central to a win that keeps their semi‑final hopes alive. They meet Australia on this ground on Friday, while sorry old England head to Karachi with only pride to play for against South Africa on Saturday. The latest period of ­English introspection begins.