England, who have excelled on all fronts in their last two matches, will look to further establish their ascendancy when they face Afghanistan, who are currently placed last on the points table, on Tuesday, 18 June. The match will be played at Old Trafford, Manchester and will be live from 3:00 PM IST.
England is the team with 6 points in the 4 matches with 3 wins against West Indies, South Africa, and Bangladesh. There are concerns over the fitness of skipper Eoin Morgan and opening batsman Jason Roy, who left the field midway against West Indies due to injuries, with the latter being ruled out for a minimum of two matches due to a hamstring injury. The pitch at Old Trafford helped the spinners in the previous match so the English batsmen will have to be careful about negotiating the Afghan spinners safely. At the same time, this is also a good opportunity for Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, and even Joe Root to get some more wickets to their name.
Player To Watch Out For – Joe Root
Afghanistan is yet to register their first win in the tournament with 4 losses in the four matches they played so far. Afghanistan have been far from being at their best in this World Cup especially due to their inconsistent middle-order. The openers have given them decent starts but the Afghans have repeatedly collapsed after the fall of the first wicket. Their bowlers have been impressive in short spell despite not getting favorable tracks. The Gulbadin Naib-led side will have to put together a complete performance if they are to challenge the top-ranked England side.
Player To Watch Out For – Mohammad Nabi
Pitch Report
The surface for the marquee clash was absolutely flat and the ball turned significantly later on. This brings Afghanistan spinners into the game as well.
Probable Line Ups
England – 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 – 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.
PlayerzPot XI
PlayerzPot Prediction
Everything is in England’s favor and we believe that they have a great chance of winning this game.
