Monday 16 / September / 2024
New Delhi: Their campaign back on track with a stunning win over South Africa, a resurgent England would be looking to plug their bowling loopholes when they take on an ever-improving Afghanistan in a Super 10 Group 1 match of the ICC World Twenty20.
After being bruised and battered by Chris Gayle in the six-wicket defeat to West Indies in their tournament-opener, England, facing a must-win situation, rode on Joe Root's class act to register a close two-wicket win against South Africa in a high-scoring encounter to keep their hopes alive.
Chasing a mammoth 230-run target, Root single-handedly got England over the line with a thundering 83 off 44 balls.
If not for Root's heroics, England would have been virtually out of the tournament after their bowling department leaked runs for a second consecutive match.
And even though they start as favourites against Afghanistan, England would be aware that their bowlers would have to put up an improved performance.
The 2010 champions' under-fire bowlers and fielders will be up against a potent if not marauding Afghanistan batting line-up that gave Australia a scare in their last match.
The performance of England's opening pace duo of David Willey and Reece Topley can be termed horrendous against South Africa the other day as they sprayed the ball on both sides of the wicket to concede huge runs.
The likes of Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes too were very expensive.
The spin duo of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid looked good even though they too went for runs and the key for England would be how effectively this pair performs.
If England want to alter their pace combination they have Liam Plunkett, a late replacement for the injured Steve Finn, to call upon.
England's batting has been satisfactory so far in the tournament with Root leading from the front.
However, they need a collective batting effort from the likes of Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Stokes, Jos Buttler and skipper Eoin Morgan to make themselves a potent force in the tournament.
With a win and a loss under their belt, England are currently lying fourth in the five-team group and a win will definitely propel Morgan's men up in the standings.
Minnows Afghanistan, on the other hand, have lost both their matches against Sri Lanka (by six wickets) and South Africa (by 37 runs).
But despite the defeats, the Afghans, who advanced to the Super 10 stage for the first time, showed great character in those two matches.
They might be virtually out of the semi-final race following two defeats, but the Afghans would be aiming to spoil the party for others and show the world their might in the remaining matches of the tournament.
Led by Asghar Stanikzai, the Afghan batting department, which also has Mohammad Shahzad and middle-order batsman Mohammed Nabi, crossed 150-run mark in both the matches, but it their inexperienced bowling unit which needs to come to the party to hand their team maiden win in the event.
Teams:
England: Jason Roy, James Vince, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan (capt), Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Sam Billings, David Willey, Liam Plunkett, Reece Topley, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Liam Dawson.
Afghanistan: Asghar Stanikzai (capt), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Noor Ali Zadran, Usman Ghani, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Sadiq, Shafiqullah Shafiq, Rashid Khan, Ameer Hamza, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Samiullah Shenwari, Najibullah Zadran, Hamid Hassan.
