Afghanistan vs England Preview: Can Afghanistan rekindle romance in all too predictable World Cup

Afghanistan and England will face off for only the second time.

Struck by a series of injury setbacks, England will to get the combination right when they take on the low-ranked but spirited Afghanistan in their bid to get closer to a semi-final berth on Tuesday.

The hosts are struggling with fitness issues, the latest being captain Eoin Morgan having to leave the field with a back spasm during their last match against the West Indies.

Opening batsman Jason Roy was also forced off the field during the same match due to hamstring tightness.

Although Morgan himself is confident of playing, Jos Buttler is poised to lead the team which boasts a strong bench that includes the likes of Tom Curran and Moeen Ali.

After suffering a shock loss to Pakistan, England have got their act together, excelling in all three departments and the hosts will want to continue riding on the winning momentum.

On the other hand, Afghanistan will be eager to post their first win in the ongoing World Cup.

Playing in their second World Cup, the bottom placed Afghanistan have lost all four of their matches till now to South Africa, Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand respectively.

However, the players from the war-torn nation can take confidence from the fact that they almost pulled off a win against Sri Lanka.

Their main concern will be their batting as Afghanistan are yet to face 40 or more overs in any of their games.

They made an encouraging start against South Africa, with openers Hazratullah Zazai and Noor Ali Zadran watchfully negotiating the early overs but failed to capitalise on that.

The rest of the tem couldn’t reach double figures apart from Rashid Khan, who once against showed that he is shaping up to be a talented all-rounder.

The conditions, particularly the wicket and whether it supports spin, will be crucial for the Afghans who rely heavily on their tweakers Rashid and Mohammad Nabi to get them their breakthroughs. WATCH OUT FOR - Chris Woakes

Chris Woakes will be hoping for a big match with the ball against Afghanistan.

Yet to have a match winning return with the ball, he was excellent against the West Indies with the new ball, and then was promoted to number 3 in the order and peeled off a respectable 40. Thought we’re not predicting Woakes to become England’s number 1 all-rounder, we do feel that the confidence he will have had after his innings on Thursday will roll into his bowling, and will see a good return from the Birminghamian. PREDICTION

Despite the wicket likely to be conducive to their biggest strength in spin, it’s hard to imagine the Afghani’s being able to score enough runs to trouble England in this one. The minor injuries, and the lowly ranked opposition will allow the hosts to give a number of their back-up players some game time. England will be too strong in this one.

England to win by 60-100 runs, 7-8 wickets STATISTICS HEAD TO HEAD ODI Matches: 1

Afghanistan: 0 England: 1

HEAD TO HEAD IN WORLD CUPS

Matches: 1

Afghanistan: 0 England: 1

WORLD CUP RECORDS

Afghanistan

Matches: 9

Won: 1

Lost: 8

Best Result - Group Stage (2015)

England

Matches: 76

Won: 44

Lost: 30

Best Result- Runners Up (1979, 1987, 1992)

ODI Record since World Cup 2015:

Afghanistan

Matches: 66

Won: 34

Lost: 28

England

Matches: 92

Won: 61

Lost: 24