ABOUT THE MATCH
A big gap seems to be opening up between the current top-4 in ICC World Cup 2019 standings and the rest. England is a part of this top-4 and will be looking to try and maintain the momentum against Afghanistan.There will be a number of teams that will be cheering for Afghanistan in this match. Teams like South Africa, Pakistan, and maybe even Bangladesh need the top-4 teams to slip up somewhere and create an opportunity for them.
Afghanistan has lost all of its four sides in the cricket world 2019. In fact, not only have they failed to win, but they have also failed to be competitive. This performance at the biggest stage in cricket is going to be hurting Afghanistan.
The match between the number one ranked side in the world, England, and the lowest ranked team in this world cup seems like a mismatch. A pitch that offered some help to the spinners and some possible injury concerns may make things a bit more interesting.
England vs Afghanistan is going to be played at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester on the 18th of June 2019.
MATCH PREVIEW
ENGLAND
The first thing that everyone is going to want to know in this match is whether Jason Roy and Eoin Morgan are fit to take the side against Afghanistan. There have been conflicting reports in the media with some outlets reporting Roy will miss his next two games and other reporting that he is going to be available to play against Afghanistan.
Morgan’s back spasms don’t seem to be as serious and he is most likely going to be available against Afghanistan.
Looking ahead at the ICC World Cup 2019, we think England is definitely going to rest Roy and maybe even Morgan. This means that James Vince is going to play and Moeen Ali could come back into the side also.
England is one of the strongest contenders for the Cricket World Cup 2019 title because of the depth it has in its squad. They are lucky to be playing against a relatively weak opponent and can afford to rest its first choice players.
The form of Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, and the others are good enough for England to come into this match confident of a victory. Root has two centuries to his name already and is currently the fourth highest run-getter in the entire tournament.
England’s bowling attack is also performing very well and the express speed of Jofra Archer should be able to unsettle the Afghan batsmen. Archer and Mark Wood have been the two fastest bowlers in the entire tournament.
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.
There is no cricketing reason or logic why England should lose this game.
England Squad:
Probable Playing 11: Jason Roy/James Vince, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Jos Buttler (wk), Eoin Morgan (c)/Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
AFGHANISTAN
The ICC World Cup 2019 has been a rude shock for the Afghanistan side. They have improved dramatically in the last few years but they have a very long way to go before they can be considered a consistent, world-class team in all conditions.
This learning curve is very similar to what a lot of other senior teams have gone through before them.
The biggest letdown for Afghanistan has been its batting. They have just not been able to put enough runs on the board to give themselves a chance to put the opposition under pressure.
No batsmen from Afghanistan has been able to score a century in the cricket world cup 2019. The highest score for their side has been 59. Only two batsmen have scored a fifty and not even a single batsman has reached 100 runs for the tournament in total.
It is just not possible to compete with the best teams with performances like these.
Against England, the Afghanistan team is going to be faced with one of the best bowling attacks in the tournament. They are also probably going to be faced with a lot of short-pitched bowling. If their batsmen can show some courage and play out the difficult overs then there will be plenty of scoring opportunities down the line.
Najibullah Zadran and Rahmat Shah appear to be the two batsmen that can maybe play the long inning. Mohammad Nabi also needs to show his batting class and step up for the side.
Among the bowling, Afghanistan must hope that the pitch is going to help the spinners. Picking three spinners would be the right way to go because England’s weakness against spin bowling is perhaps the only way they can win this match.
Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have had a very poor ICC World Cup 2019 so far. Even Mohammad Nabi has struggled apart from that spell against Sri Lanka.
A lot of things will suddenly need to start going right for Afghanistan to even have a chance of coming close to beating England.
Afghanistan Squad:
Probable Playing 11:Hazratullah Zazai, Noor Ali Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan/Najibullah Zadran, Gulbadin Naib (c), Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Ali Khil (wk), Rashid Khan, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan
TOSS PREDICTION
England will want to bat second if it wins the toss because of all the rain around. Afghanistan may prefer to bat first and get a total on the board.
PITCH AND CONDITIONS
England vs Afghanistan ICC World Cup 2019 is going to be played at EMriates Old Trafford, Manchester. The weather has been dull and gloomy in Manchester for the last few weeks and the same is expected for this match.
We should be able to get a result in but some showers are expected to interrupt the match and cause stoppages.
The pitches were well protected and there was some spin for the bowlers in the match between India and Pakistan. A high scoring pitch with help for the spinners is what we expect in this game also.
DREAM11 PREDICTION
Our Dream11 team is filled with the maximum possible England players as can be expected. There is a threat of rain around and some injury concerns which could change the playing eleven.
WIcketkeeper: Jonny Bairstow is going to be opening the batting and is in good form as well. Jos Buttler is another exceptional player but he may not get enough batting time against a weak bowling attack like Afghanistan.
Batsmen: We have picked Joe Root, Najibullah Zadran, and Haratullah Zazai as our three batsmen. Root already has two centuries to his name and is in the race to be the highest run-scorer in this tournament. Hazratullah Zazi swings his bat around and can score some quick runs but picking him is a big gamble. Najibullah Zadran is also quite limited with this batting but the lack of clarity over the availability of Jason Roy and Eoin Morgan has left us no other options at this time.
All-rounders: We think Moeen Ali could get a chance in this game and this is why we have picked him in our Dream11 team. Ali, alongside Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes, means that we have all three all-rounders in the England side. Mohammad Nabi is the fourth player we have picked form this category which gives the maximum possible all-rounders.
Bowlers: Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, and Rashid Khan are perhaps the three bowlers best equipped to take wickets in Manchester. All three of these bowlers will benefit from the large square boundaries and the two spinners will also the like kind of surface that has been prepared.
Captain and Vice-Captain: We have picked Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow as the captain and vice-captain of our Dream11 team for England vs Afghanistan.
ENG VS AFG DREAM11 LINEUP
WICKETKEEPER:
Jonny Bairstow (VC)
BATSMEN:
Joe Root (c) Najibullah Zadran Hazratulah Zazai
ALL-ROUNDERS:
Mohammad Nabi Ben Stokes Moeen Ali Chris Woakes
BOWLERS:
Rashid Khan Jofra Archer Adil Rashid England vs Afghanistan Dream11 Prediction
MATCH PREDICTION
There is nothing that suggests that Afghanistan is going to be able to win this match. That does not mean that it is impossible but just that we cannot recommend betting on it happening. Everything is in England’s favor and we believe that they have a 99% chance of winning this game. If you are the kinds that like to take risks on miracles then go ahead and bet on Afghanistan. We recommend sticking with the home team or keeping your money in your pocket.
Bet on England to win.
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