England will face Afghanistan in the 13th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The defending champions defeated Bangladesh in their final game in Dharamsala to secure their first win in the tournament.
England and Afghanistan will meet in the 13th match of the 2023 Cricket World Cup at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday. 2019 cricket world champions England lost their opening match of this year's tournament by nine wickets against New Zealand but bounced back with a 137-run win over Bangladesh on Tuesday. Afghanistan have played twice and lost two this campaign, with defeats by 6 wickets against Bangladesh in Game 3 and by 8 wickets against India in Game 9. Read on as we preview this clash. The day-night game begins at 2:00 p.m. local time.
England had to show character in the second game of the tournament and put in an excellent performance with bat and ball against Bangladesh. It would be a big surprise if England didn't take two wins out of three in this game.
Afghanistan have some excellent young players in their squad, but overall they continue to struggle when facing the best teams in the world. We expect them to struggle against England, although they could cause some problems with their bowling attack.
Match Preview
England will face Afghanistan in the 13th match of the ODI World Cup at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on October 15. England have done a good job so far, picking up a win and a loss in their two games, while Afghanistan need to look at their performances and have lost both their games. They are fifth and ninth in the points table.
England played against Bangladesh in their final game, with Bangladesh winning the toss and electing to field. As expected, England got off to a great start as they broke down Bangladesh's bowling line-up. With half-centuries from Bairstow and Root and a sensational century from Dawid Malan, England scored a total of 364 runs. In response, Bangladesh were never able to get off to the start they had hoped for as they kept losing wickets one after the other. Eventually, they lost the match by a good margin of 137 runs.
Afghanistan played against India in their last game where Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat. They started decently despite losing a few wickets in quick succession. The pair of Shahidi and Omarzai added 101 runs, which looked like they would reach a huge total, but Bumrah came back to stop them at 272. Rohit was beside himself from the start in the chase as he smashed 131 off just 84 balls. He was well accompanied by others and India won the game emphatically by eight wickets with 15 overs to spare.
Pitch Report
The track at Arun Jaitley Stadium is very helpful for batters. Pacers can exploit the double pace of the pitch and trouble the batters while looking forward to making the most of the loose deliveries. Teams decide to hit after winning the toss. The average first innings total is 228.
Toss Prediction
Two of the last three ODIs, including India's victory over Afghanistan earlier this week, were won by the team that appeared first at the venue. We expect both captains to choose to field first if they win the toss before this game.
Weather Report
Humidity is not a major problem in Delhi as a mix of sunshine and light clouds are forecast for Sunday. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid to low 30s during this game.
Head to Head
Both teams have played just two ODIs against each other so far, with England winning both of them.
Match Prediction
England were convincing winners against Afghanistan in their previous two games in this format and we expect more of the same in this game. If Afghanistan can get some early wickets in this game, they have a chance, but if England are able to create a strong platform at the top of the order like they did against Bangladesh, it will be very difficult. We predict that England will emerge victorious again, but that Afghanistan's top pair will cause some problems with their attacking intent. We support England to win on Sunday.
England to beat Afghanistan
Venue Details
The venue for this match is Arun Jaitley Staidum in Delhi. The average first innings score here is 231 runs, but looking at recent games here, we reckon anything under 300 is easily achievable. The team batting first should aim for more than 320-330 runs to be competitive in the game.
Betting Tips
As mentioned earlier, despite having some excellent players, Afghanistan underperformed and we expect the same to happen on Sunday. England have a strong batting line-up and can easily handle their opponents' out-of-form bowling attack.
Bet on England to win.
Probable Playing XI
England
Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Reece Topley
Dawid Malan – The left-handed opener came into the tournament in strong form and picked up another Man of the Match award in the win over Bangladesh with an innings that included 21 boundaries.
Joe Root – The top-order right-handed batsman struggled for form in the home ODIs against New Zealand in September. However, he has scored 77 and 82 goals in his first two games of this tournament.
Mark Wood - The right-arm fast bowler was too accurate and too quick for Bangladesh's batters in Tuesday's game. He finished the game with a score of 1-29 from his ten overs.
Reece Topley – The great opening left-arm bowler bowled England's only first over in the win over Bangladesh. He also fired Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim.
Afghanistan Key Players
Hashmatullah Shahidi - The left-handed captain was very impressive on this pitch against a very strong Indian bowling attack in the last game and has been in good ODI form over the last month.
Azmatullah Omarzai – The 23-year-old all-rounder delivered an excellent rebuilding innings alongside his captain against India in Game 9. He hit four sixes in the innings, three more than any of his teammates.
Rashid Khan – The world-class spinner took both of Afghanistan's wickets against India. He may well find himself in the attack earlier in the game as his dismissals of Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma on Wednesday came too late.
Naveen-ul-Haq – The right-arm medium-pace bowler was Afghanistan's most economical bowling attack in Game 9. He went wicketless in the last game but still has an ODI strike rate of 28.8.
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