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A rocky start to their World Cup campaign has seen England come under immediate pressure to perform in their following matches. They have a chance to build some momentum when they play the bottom side in the group – Afghanistan, this Sunday morning at 9.30am GMT, as they bid to win their second consecutive game.
Afghanistan have struggled to find their feet so far, losing comfortably to both Bangladesh and India after failing to set a competitive score batting first. That could be something they look to rectify at the toss immediately this weekend by electing to chase, however that will no doubt prove to be a stiff challenge at this stage of the competition while low on confidence.
England’s middle order is yet to fire with the bat and prevented them from setting a competitive total in the inaugural game of the tournament, while the front trio of Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan and Joe Root have all helped to provide the team with a platform to work with so far. Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone will be eager to make a good score this time out, and a weak Afghanistan bowling attack could be exactly what they need to take off.
Afghanistan do have some fire power and were able to flex their muscles slightly against India, with both Hashmatullah and Azhmatullah both making 50’s, but the rest of the team around them have failed to fire on any of their cylinders so far. They’ll be relying on their world-class spinners to provide a spark for them with the ball, as Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman combine to form the best spin duo in the world, but disappointingly have only taken two wickets between each other so far.
England look set to refresh their bowling line-up, with speedster Gus Atkinson and all-rounder David Willey being considered to help ease the load on Mark Wood and Reece Topley in the midst of a grueling schedule. Both have plenty of talent in reserve and will be handy movers of the ball during the crucial powerplay overs, that Afghanistan will look to exploit early on.
The bookies have England as heavy odds-on favourite for this match, suggesting that it could be a good opportunity to rest key batsman as well as bowlers in the Indian heat. Others will be keen to find form, and the match could turn out to be a crucial tone setter for the rest of the tournament. Afghanistan are already under pressure to win, and another loss could prove to be the end of their hopes of making the finals.