WATCH HIGHLIGHTS! Sam Curran takes 5 wickets as England beat Afghanistan in World Cup opener

Jos Buttler's England registered their first victory of the T20 World Cup 2022 as they beat Group 1 opponents Afghanistan by 5 wickets.

The Afghanistan batters were unable to stitch any substantial partnership in the first innings as England bowlers bossed the proceedings.

Sam Curran sizzled with a five-wicket haul and became the first English bowler to pick up a fifer in T20Is for England.

Ibrahim Zadran top-scored for Afghanistan with a run-a-ball 32 while Usman Ghani made 30. But the Blue Tigers lost their last 6 wickets for 21 runs to finish on just 112, with Curran the destructor-in-chief.

England too did not have a perfect start as they lost skipper Jos Buttler within the powerplay for just 18 runs. After getting dropped by Qais Ahmad earlier, Alex Hales finally got dismissed for 19 runs by Fareed Ahmad.

Afghanistan did manage to take a few more wickets to make a fist of it, but England were always well ahead of the asking rate. And Liam Livingstone's unbeaten 29 saw them complete the run-chase in the 19th over.