England suffered a disappointing defeat in the first game of their World Cup title defence, losing emphatically by nine wickets to New Zealand.
However they bounced back in style against Bangladesh with a comfortable success and face an Afghanistan side on Sunday that have been seen off with ease in both of their matches so far.
- England to have the highest opening partnership
- Joe Root top England batter
- Hashmatullah Shahidi top Afghanistan batter
Openers To Set The Tone
England’s openers have been key to their success in one-day internationals, and that has been no different at this year’s World Cup.
Despite losing to New Zealand, they did limit their opening partnership to ten while Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow put on 40 for the first English wicket.
In fact, England have managed to have the highest opening partnership in seven of their last eight one-day internationals.
With Malan fresh from making 140 in his last innings and Bairstow one of the world’s most destructive openers, they should be able to extend that good run against these opponents.
ENGLAND TO HAVE HIGHEST OPENING PARTNERSHIP
Consistent Root In The Runs
England’s big hitting and impressive strike rates have been the main focus of the analysis surrounding their white-ball team but the ultra-reliable Joe Root continues to thrive in a less flashy role.
The number three has scores of 77 and 82 at this tournament so far and while he may not be as destructive a hitter as some of his teammates, his ability to use all parts of the ground makes him difficult to bowl to.
Root has five half-centuries from eight ODI innings in India, averaging 64.86 in the process, and with question marks about some of the other contenders to be England’s top run-scorer, he is fancied to come out on top.
Harry Brook has failed to justify his inclusion in the squad, while Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone are yet to have a big innings at the tournament.
Root’s consistency in these conditions and potential question marks about the form of some of his teammates means he is fancied to be England’s top scorer.
Root to get runs
Shahidi To Lead From The Front
Afghanistan have not had much to shout about in their World Cup campaign, losing by six wickets to Bangladesh and eight wickets to hosts India.
Both times their opponents barely had to get out of second gear and Afghanistan will need a much improved performance if they are to get anything from this game.
One positive amongst the negativity has been the batting performances of captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, who looks likely to be his country’s top run-scorer again.
His knock of 80 last time out against India was his third half-century in his last four innings and he also top scored with 76 for his country when they played England in the 2019 World Cup.
SHAHIDI TOP AFGHANISTAN BATTER
