Shook-up England look to put rare defeat behind them

Overview

England v Afghanistan
The Oval, London
2019 ICC Cricket World Cup Warm-up
Monday, 27 May; 10.30am local, 09.30am GMT

England, the world No. 1 side, suffered defeat in their first warm-up match against a resurgent Australia. So much has been said about the strength of this English side and their contention for their maiden World Cup title. But even before the tournament has begun, the signs have already emerged that when it comes to the World Cup, every team goes in with a chance of winning it and that nothing is a foregone conclusion.

It wasn’t a typical game in these conditions. Australia put up 297 – well below what has been par in ODIs in this part of the world recently – before going on to successfully defend it. While their failure to chase down a sub-300 total was an aberration on the part of England, they did have their share of positives to take from the match, such as James Vince, who replaced Alex Hales in their World Cup squad, continuing to show why he is an investment worth making.

Afghanistan began on the opposite note, picking up victory over Pakistan as they continue to establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with in one-day cricket. The quality of Afghanistan’s competition against some of the world’s top-ranked Full Member sides in recent times has been unmissable. Their bowling strength came to the fore once again, with spinners Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan snaring five wickets between them. The batting was solid, with contributions from various corners.

They now face a huge step-up in competition, against the tournament hosts and favourites. Even so, this is a mouth-watering contest, pitting the might of England’s batting against the might of Afghanistan’s bowling. Which one will give?

Key Players

**Jos Buttler (England):**The wicket-keeper batsman is simply unstoppable at the moment. Against Australia, he slammed 52 off just 31 balls, with the help of five fours and three sixes. Buttler is a relentless boundary-scoring machine, and is capable of piercing all corners of the field, making him a nightmare for both bowlers as well as captains trying to set fields for him.

**Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan):**The all-rounder has been in some form since the 2019 Indian Premier League, where he gave a worthy audition of his wicket-taking credentials. Against Pakistan, he took three crucial wickets, including those of the belligerent Fakhar Zaman at the top and the experienced Shoaib Malik in the middle, before making 34 crucial runs lower down to script a successful chase. Nabi brings immense all-round value to this Afghanistan side, making him a high-utility asset.

Conditions

London is expected to be mostly cloudy on Monday. Chances of rain peak at 11am, so that is right around the start. Expect swing bowling to play a major part again, and the team winning the toss to field first.

Squads

England: Aaron Finch (capt), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Alex Carey, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon

Afghanistan: Gulbadin Naib (capt), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb ur Rahman