Can Afghanistan produce the biggest upset over nervous England?
- England have won both the encounters against Afghanistan by heavy margins.
- England have been vulnerable against spin in recent times.
England and Afghanistan will face off in match no. 13 of the World Cup 2023 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on October 15th. After losing their opening game against New Zealand, England registered a dominant 137-run win over Bangladesh. Dawid Malan hit a century while Reece Topley bagged four wickets. England are favourites to win this match at 1.10
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Afghanistan lost to Bangladesh by six wickets in their World Cup opener at Dharamsala, where they were bowled out for 156. They were then smashed by eight wickets at Delhi, with India chasing down 273 in 35 overs. Afghanistan have odds of 7.76 to win this match.
Head-to-head record, Afghanistan vs England
Afghanistan and England have only played two ODIs against each other, both of which came at the World Cup. England have won both the matches, by nine wickets in 2015 and by 150 runs in the previous WC edition.
Toss prediction
Arun Jaitley Stadium has been a host to 30 One-Day internationals, with the team batting first claiming 14 games and the chasing side winning 15 times. With the dew around, teams would prefer chasing. Our toss prediction is that England will win the toss and bowl first.
Win probability
There’s no doubt England are a far superior side and will head into this game as favourites. They have a win probability of 91%.
Average score
The average score for the team batting first at Delhi reads 231 after 30 games. The average second innings here stands at 209.
Pitch and conditions
As far as the past record is concerned, Arun Jaitley stadium has served slow and turning pitches, with plenty of assistance for spinners. But the surfaces offered in two games of this tournament have been pretty good for batting. The weather in Delhi is expected to be clear on Sunday, with the temperature around 26-34 degree Celsius.
Players to keep an eye on…
Afghanistan predicted playing XI:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
England predicted playing XI:
Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (c/wk), Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley
Dawid Malan: The England opening batter has been in pretty good form. He averages 74.50 with the bat this year with four centuries and three fifties. He’s coming off a 107-ball 140 in the previous game against Bangladesh.
Rashid Khan: The leg-spinner took two wickets in the previous game. Rashid’s record against top teams isn’t great and he’d be hoping to change that against a side that has been vulnerable to spin.
Afghanistan vs England prediction
Our prediction for this fixture is that England will win the match. The difference in quality between these two sides is stark and given that the pitch is likely to be flatter, this difference will increase further. England have a formidable batting unit and should do well here.
Our pick: Back England at 1.10 to win this one!
Afghanistan vs England betting tips
Apart from betting on England to win the match, check our other recommended bet about England’s best bowler.
Mark Wood has the pace to intimidate the Afghanistan batting line-up. He has 72 wickets in the format from 61 games with two four-fors. Back Wood at 4.31 to be England’s top bowler in the match!
