The 24th match of the ICC World Cup 2019 will see hosts England face off against Afghanistan at the Old Trafford ground in Manchester. England has been very good in the tournament so far with only one loss in four matches, while Afghanistan is yet to win any matches and have looked competitive in just one match against Sri Lanka.
England has been hit with injuries in their last game against the West Indies as Eoin Morgan and Jason Roy, as both of them had to leave the field in between the innings. Jason Roy pulled up with a hamstring concern and didn’t come out to open the innings, while Morgan suffered some back issues. Therefore, in a game against Afghanistan, the England team management might want to keep both their important players at bay and give them a chance to recover. This means James Vince might come into open and Liam Plunkett may be brought in to strengthen the bowling.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, is looking desolate with big losses to almost every team they have played so far. They managed to bowl Sri Lanka out for 201 runs, but their batting failed to capitalize on it. They might want to bat first after winning the toss, or there is a chance of England coming good on their chances of making 500 in an ODI inning. Najibullah Zadran might be brought into the team to strengthen the middle order, in place of Asghar Afghan, how has not been firing with the bat at all.
England Predicted Playing XI:
Jonny Bairstow, James Vince, Joe Root, Jos Buttler (C&WK), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett
Afghanistan Predicted Playing XI:
Hazratullah Zazai, Noor Ali Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Ali (WK), Gulbadin Naib (C), Rashid Khan, Hamid Hassan, Aftab Alam
