Match: England vs Afghanistan, Cricket World Cup 2023 (ENG vs AFG)
Date: October 15, Sunday, 2.00 PM IST
Venue: Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium, New Delhi
England and Afghanistan will play the 13th match of the Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on October 15.
The defending champions did not have the best of starts to their title defence, losing to New Zealand by a big margin in their opening game. After scoring 282/9 in 50 overs, England were at the receiving end of a record-breaking partnership between Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, both of whom scored an unbeaten century each to win the game with 13.4 overs and nine wickets to spare.
However, England made amends for this loss by winning the next game against Bangladesh. A fine century from Dawid Malan and fifties from Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root powered England to a big total of 364/9 before bowling out Bangladesh for 227. Reece Topley, who picked up four wickets, was England’s best bowler in the game.
Afghanistan also began their campaign with a loss. Against Bangladesh, they were bowled out for just 156 as Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz did a wonderful job with the ball. In reply, Bangladesh chase down the target with 92 balls to spare. To make matters worse, Afghanistan lost their next game as well. Despite half centuries from Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai, which helped Afghanistan post 272 runs in their 50 overs, they ended up losing the game by a big margin. India, helped by a century from Rohit Sharma, chased down the target with 15 overs and eight wickets remaining.
Ahead of match 13 of the Cricket World Cup 2023, here is everything you need to know to maximise your chances of winning cash prizes on MPL.
Weather update and pitch report for ENG vs AFG, Cricket World Cup 2023
Going by the matches played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium this World Cup, the surface is excellent for batting. 754 runs were scored at this venue in the match between South Africa and Sri Lanka played last week. In the match between India and Afghanistan, the Indian batsmen made batting look easy on this pitch.
The weather in Delhi will be mostly warm and sunny with a maximum temperature of 35 degrees Celsius during the day. Rain is not forecast.
England team news and predicted XI
Team news: Ben Stokes, who did not play the first two matches due to a hip injury, is still unfit. Chris Woakes was also not part of England’s practice session on Friday due to illness. David Willey might replace Woakes in the XI, if need be.
Squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.
Predicted XI: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (C & WK), Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes/David Willey, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Reece Topley
Afghanistan team news and predicted XI
Team news: Afghanistan, despite losing both their matches, are unlikely to make any changes to their playing XI. They do not have enough quality options to choose from their bench strength.
Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq.
Predicted XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai/Noor Ahmad, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Head-to-head record
England and Afghanistan have played merely two matches against each other in ODIs, both of which were won by England. The first game was played in March 2015 while the second one was played in June 2019. Both these matches were played at the World Cup.
Five players to watch out for
Here we list five players you must pick in your MPL fantasy XI for ENG vs AFG, Cricket World Cup 2023
Dawid Malan – batsman, England
Dawid Malan was awarded the Player of the Match award in the previous match for his brilliant performance. He smashed his career-best score of 140 against Bangladesh, which was also his sixth ODI century in just 23 innings. He was also England’s top run-scorer in a three-match ODI series recently played against New Zealand. In the three ODIs, Malan scored 54, 96 and 127. Going by his recent form, Malan can be considered as one of the captaincy options for this game.
Joe Root – batsman, England
Another England batsman to watch out for is Joe Root, who has scored a half century each in both the first two matches. He scored 77 against New Zealand and 82 against Bangladesh and will be looking for a three-figure knock against Afghanistan on one of the best batting surfaces this World Cup. In 164 ODIs for England, Root has scored 6405 runs at an average of 49.26.
Jos Buttler – wicketkeeper batsman, England
When he gets going, Jos Buttler is simply unstoppable. Buttler scored 43 against New Zealand and 20 against Bangladesh and going by the standards he has set for himself; his best is yet to come. Buttler, who averages 41.40 in ODIs, will be looking to go all guns blazing on the batting friendly Delhi pitch, against a relatively weak bowling attack.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz – wicketkeeper batsman, Afghanistan
Since arriving in India for the World Cup, Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been Afghanistan’s best batsman. He scored 119 against Sri Lanka in the warm-up, and 47 and 21 in the main games against Bangladesh and India respectively. He averages 38 in 28 ODIs and has already scored five centuries in the format.
Hashmatullah Shahidi – batsman, Afghanistan
Hashmatullah Shahidi was Afghanistan’s best performer against India in a losing cause. The skipper top scored with a knock of 80 and will be looking for another big knock in the next game. Shahidi averages 32.85 in 66 ODIs.
MPL fantasy XI – ENG vs AFG, Cricket World Cup 2023
ENG vs AFG – where and what time to watch the match live in India
The England vs Afghanistan ODI will be televised on the Star Sports Network in India. You can also watch the game on the Disney + Hotstar app as well as the Jiocinema app. The match will begin at 2.00 PM IST on October 15.
Check out our detailed guide on fantasy cricket for more tips and tricks. https://www.mpl.live/blog/todays-match-prediction/
Note: The players recommended here need not be a part of the Playing 11 on game day. Users are advised to do their own research also and follow official sources and create their teams.
