As it happened - Afghanistan vs England, Men's T20 World Cup 2022, Perth

England’s World Cup campaign is up and running thanks to a five-wicket victory over Afghanistan.

It was very much a performance of two halves for one of the tournament favourites. They were outstanding in the field, vindicating Jos Buttler’s decision to bowl first by dismissing Afghanistan for 112 with a stellar hand from Sam Curran of 5 for 10, becoming the first Englishman to take a T20I five-for.

But a stuttering chase took the gloss off what could have been a complete performance. They were 65 for 3 at one stage in the 11th over, only managing to clear the fence once and in turn missing the chance to rubber stamp this win with a significant net run rate boost.

England have managed just seven boundaries off the bat - three of them in the space of five balls to Liam Livingstone - but have almost dragged themselves over the line at the Optus Stadium. Harry Brook holed out to long-on to give Rashid Khan a wicket but Livingstone, playing his first T20I since the summer after an ankle injury, looks like being the man to see them home.

Been a few speccies taken tonight - in both Sydney and Perth - and Mohammad Nabi has just added to the list with a soaring grab in the covers to see off Dawid Malan. England need just 32 off 36, but Afghanistan aren't letting go.

With Alex Hales holing out and Ben Stokes again failing to fire, England are making a bit of a meal of this chase. Had Afghanistan not dropped Hales twice early on, then things might have been different. But with the RRR already well below a run a ball, there's very little pressure on England's batters.

In comes the main event after the Power Play. And he starts as you'd have expected:

Although maybe you'd expect a wicket, too? No chances to speak of in that opening set, but a few near misses as Dawid Malan ties himself in a couple of knots as to whether to play forward or back. The Net Run Rate boost that would accompany this victory is key, especially with rain affected games to come. But it won't be easy.

It's not quite been the bish-bash-bosh you expect from England's top order. Afghanistan have not bowled particularly well, but the timing has been a little off from Jos Buttler and Hales as they try to munch through their 113 target. Buttler - 18 off 18 - falls flicking one around the corner off Fazalhaq Farooqi.

I'm not sure England's men have put together a more complete bowling/fielding performance in a T20i. That was so clean you could eat off that scorecard.

Sam Curran becomes the first Englishman to take 5 wickets in this format, conceding just 10 runs with 16 dot balls within the 22 he sent down. He has really blossomed as a bowler in the shortest format across the last few years and has emerged as their primary allrounder, from a seam perspective.

Afghanistan could not live with them here, and as much as they will be dismayed by some of their strokes, it is easier to sit on this side of a computer and suggest ways they could have done better. Sure, they didn't try to go down the ground enough, but the heat of Wood, the nous of the rest and the catching were on a different level.

Now here's a special thing:

And yet, as stunningly as Mark Wood has bowled, there's an argument to be made that Ben Stokes has played the more useful (sneakier) role for England here. He bowled the first and seventh over - the two analysts say are the best places to hide the less reliable member of your attack – before finishing off with the 10th and 15th. It means he has bowled his full allocation for the first time in 12 appearances. Oh, and he's taken 2 for 19. Well played, Jos and the brains trust.

It's taken until the 13th over, but finally – some clean, sensible hitting

I say "finally" because it's the first time Afghanistan have targeted down the ground, which is the easier boundary to clear. Najibullah Zadran was the man taking the smart option, carting Adil Rashid down the ground. Those twos, both to Najibullah, were also utilising the open space at deep cover.

And now Adil Rashid has removed him with another running, diving catch as he attempts to go down the ground again. Cruel sport.

Liam Livingstone's 9/10 Glenn Phillips impersonation to get rid of the dangerous Hazratullah Zazai got me thinking: the bigger square boundaries in Australia are going to be more conducive to the running, diving worldies aren't they?

Especially with the pace and bounce of these Australian pitches, with more top edges and fielders generally in three-quarters of the way, giving them room to rush forward and back. It's probably anecdotal, but we do tend to see more of these catches in the Big Bash League. Anyway, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

A good luck message from England's prolific marksman and Mark Wood kicks off his T20 World Cup campaign with a 91mph away-nipper first up that Rahmanullah Gurbaz nicks behind. The second clocks in at 96mph to greet Ibrahim Zadran to the crease! Afghanistan 15 for one after three overs...

And there's no guarantee he'll get to that landmark today. Role clarity is big in this format and it's safe to say Stokes hasn't quite got that in this side, which is as much a reflection of the calibre of those around him. He'll be making his 38th T20 appearance for his country and has still yet to register a half-century...

If any of you collect player cards, autographed bats or other memorabilia from cricket games, you may be interested in their digital versions. This World Cup, the cricket world is meeting the world of digital collectables. ESPNcricinfo’s digital collectables partners FanCraze are allowing fans to pre-buy iconic moments from each match of the World Cup called the Crictos of the Game. We’ll also have a daily video show here on ESPNcricinfo with our experts picking their favourite moments from the games.

"We just feel like we'd like a chase," said Jos Buttler, which is just as well given Mohammad Nabi admitted he wanted to bat first. Both these teams are having it their way.

ENGLAND: 1 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood

AFGHANISTAN: 1 Hazratullah Zazai, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Ibrahim Zadran, 4 Usman Ghani, 5 Najibullah Zadran, 6 Mohammad Nabi (capt), 7 Azmatullah Omarzai, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Fareed Ahmed, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi

The big news from those names above is Chris Woakes' recovery from a tight quad. England have opted for the extra bowling option, with a combination of Ben Stokes and Liam Livingstone making up a set of four overs between them. Afghanistan's batting isn't as destructive as previous iterations, but the shorter straight boundaries will no doubt be targeted.