England faces Afghanistan in crucial Champions Trophy clash

Beleaguered England will meet capable Afghanistan in their crucial Group B show of the ICC Champions Trophy at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on Wednesday.

It’s a must-win game for both the nations which lost their previous matches against their respective oppositions as the team which will lose the game will face exit.

This situation created after Australia-South Africa match was on Tuesday abandoned at Rawalpindi due to rain. Both teams got one point each and now stand at three points each after two games each.

England, which have been in appalling form, having won just four ODIs in their last 15, went down to Australia the other day at the same venue in a show which they should not have lost.

England smartly capitalized on the absence of Australia’s Big Three (Starc, Pat and Josh) and posted a huge total of 351-8 thanks to Ben Duckett’s record 165 and experienced Joe Root’s sensible 68.

But they could not defend such a smart total as Australia, powered by a few superb partnerships, managed a record chase with 15 balls to spare with Josh Inglis smacking impressive 120.

England also faced a huge blow before Afghanistan clash when their paceman Brydon Carse was ruled out due to toe injury. He was replaced by leggie Rehan Ahmad in the squad.

Jamie Overton is expected to replace Carse for tomorrow’s show which is set to pull a good crowd due to potential presence of Afghans in the city.

Shaky opener Phil Salt and struggling middle order batsman Harry Brooke will need to put in their solid contributions with the willow if England are to post a big total.

Afghans also have their own problems. They lost their opener to South Africa by a huge margin of 107 at Karachi.

They will need to raise their batting in particular.

They have a fine spin-trio, featuring Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad, which can unsettle England which have been vulnerable against spin.

Afghanistan had beaten England by 69 runs in the 2023 ODI World Cup in India and can beat them again as England are in immense pressure.

“We had beaten England in 2023 World Cup but now its part of history. We will have to go with a new mindset and will try our best to beat them again,” Afghanistan’s skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi told a pre-match news conference.

Shahidi said they are ready for England challenge.

“Knowing well England are vulnerable against spin but they are one of the best teams and also former world champions. We have potent spin attack and if pitch helps the spinners tomorrow then it would give us advantage,” Shahidi said.

“Batting first gives us more chance but at the same time we beat teams in the last World Cup and in the series also while batting second.”

Shahidi expects Gaddafi Stadium pitch to back his spinners.

“In the game against South Africa the wicket was slightly backing pacers but it did not even slightly support spinners. I did not see even a single ball turning. As a batting unit we did not start well and so our spinners also did not get support from the pitch but in tomorrow’s game I expect some sort of support from the track for our spinners,” he said.

He said that their mentor Younis Khan’s single word can change their game, adding he knows well about the conditions and his advice will help them against England.

Afghans did train in the afternoon while England trained under floodlights.

England captain Jos Buttler said that they are ready for the game.

“The conditions are really different and we are focusing on one game at a time. We focused on the Australia’s game and we did not get the result which we wanted. And we have prepared well for tomorrow’s game and will try to extend the kind of performance which could give us result,” Buttler said.

“Every game of cricket is turning up and sitting tonight and assessing what could be a good total is a bit hard. We know Afghanistan possesses some fantastic spinners, the cornerstone of their side. We have also good pace and spin options and we are confident with the balance of our team,” Buttler said.

He said that off-color Harry Brook is a quality player and he wants to perform well and may be a ‘match-winner’ for the side.

“I have full confidence in him,” Buttler said.

Squads

Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Farid Malik, Naveed Zadran.

England: Jos Buttler (captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Rehan Ahmed (Brydon Carse replacement), Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood.