ICC World Cup 2019: Match 24, England vs Afghanistan, Preview – Litmus test for Afghans when they take on five star England

All teams have been trying to figure out how the current England side can be broken down, as of now in the tournament only Pakistan did that job with a tinge of luck on their favour. If they bat first, they place a mountain to climb and if they bat second, any total seems gettable, in simple, they seem invincible.

Of all the current teams in the ongoing World Cup, going by recent form, Afghanistan is the last team anyone would want to bet on to beat this stellar juggernaut. With due respect to the Asian side, the hosts are just too strong for most teams and it is something no one can hide from.

Gulbadin Naib and his troops are hitting new lows with every passing game and it seems likely that they might not win even a single game. All they can do is a bank on their strengths, which is their bowling attack and expect for things to work in their favour. As it stands, it doesn’t seem like they will be garnering a positive result from this game.

Playing combinations

England

The only changes England will be making are through the injuries. While it’s confirmed that Jason Roy will miss a couple of games and James Vince will come in his place, Eoin Morgan’s status has not been confirmed. If he isn’t available, Moeen Ali will be in the XI and Jos Buttler will be leading the team. Their fast bowlers Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood are cranking the high 140s and have formed a gruesome trio. Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid are the other bowling options.

Probable XI

James Vince, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (C)/Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.

Afghanistan

Opener Hazratullah Zazai has been getting starts but is restricting himself to 30s and 40s. Rahmat Shah too needs to get a move on and score a big one, he’s their most important batsman in the middle order alongside the in-form Hashmatullah Shahidi and Najibullah Zadran. Rashid Khan needs to pull out some magic from his fingers to be more effective. Once again they will go with the three-man fast bowling attack consisting Aftab Alam, Gulbadin Naib and Hamid Hassan.

Probable XI

Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan/Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Ali Khil (wk), Gulbadin Naib (C), Rashid Khan, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan

Focus will be on

James Vince (England)

The 28-year-old hasn’t appeared in many games for the country as yet and will be facing the biggest challenge of his life on Tuesday. James Vince will consider himself lucky that the opposition is not in a great form right now and he might try to capitalize on that. He registered a decent 64 in the warm-up fixture against Australia and is perhaps the best time for him to come in.

Rahmat Shah (Afghanistan)

Their most effective batsman in the lineup, Rahmat Shah scored just 8 runs in the last three games. He has not been in fine touch since landing in England which cost the Afghans a lot. Not a lot of batsmen in their lineup can accelerate the scoring as fluently as him and it is needless to say they need his best for this game.

Head to head

Matches played – 1 | England won – 1 | Afghanistan – 0

Stat Attack

43 – Bairstow needs 43 runs to complete 2,500 runs in ODIs.

Broadcast Details

TV – Star Sports

Online– Hotstar

Match Timings – 15:00 IST; 10:30 local