England vs Afghanistan tips and predictions: World Cup holders to crush minnows in Delhi
- Scott Allen
- 13 October 2023
England swap Himalayan mountain air for the hustle and bustle of Delhi as they face World Cup minnows Afghanistan on Sunday (0930 BST).
Fresh from a convincing 137-run victory over Bangladesh, England are hot favourites to dispatch unfancied Afghanistan in Delhi on Sunday.
An outstanding century from Dawid Malan and the recalled Reece Topley’s eye-catching display with the ball put England’s World Cup defence back on track in Dharamshala against Bangladesh.
The 2019 champions were thumped by New Zealand in the tournament opener but nailed a handsome win over Bangladesh with Malan smashing a career-best 140 in 107 balls.
England looked on course to post 400, but a flurry of wickets down the order kept them to a less flashy total.of 364.
It was still their biggest World Cup total on foreign soil and easily enough to get the job done and it is highly likely that Afghanistan will be similarly outmatched.
Topley, who replaced all-rounder Moeen Ali, blew away the Bangladesh top order and finished with four for 43.
He took two in two balls in his opening over, clean bowled captain Shakib Al Hasan with a wonderful ball and circled back for the battling Mushfiqur Rahim.
After that performance he will be hard to shift from the teamsheet and 10/3 is still an appealing price for him to be leading England wicket taker again.
The Afghan bowlers were flayed by the Indian batters on Wednesday, and could suffer the same fate against England.
Malan and the in-form Joe Root are obvious punts, but Jonny Bairstow is bound to come to the party eventually and top run scorer at 7/2 is of interest.
However, after a 'scratchy' 20 off 10 balls against Bangladesh Jos Buttler could let fly if he gets in and 5/1 shouldn't be ignored. He'll want to get back in good order for much tougher games.
Rashid Khan was the only Afghanistan player to take any wickets against India and remains their key player.
He could do some damage to the England top order if they continue their super aggressive approach.
Predictions:
Reece Topley leading England wicket taker
