England vs Afghanistan Warm-Up Match Preview: TSR presents Predicted Playing 11, Toss prediction and Weather report for tomorrow’s match.
Advertisement
The eighth warm-up match for the looming ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 will be played between England and Afghanistan at The Oval today. The game will be the last chance for both the teams to fine-tune their skills ahead of the all-important league stage of the tournament.
England vs Afghanistan Warm-Up Match Preview
England vs Afghanistan – Form Guide
Considering the formidable unit that they have been, not many would have anticipated for hosts England to lose their first warm-up match. Hit by injuries before and during the match, England would be hoping for their players to regain full fitness for this encounter.
Other than the warm-up match, England have been in stellar form in ODIs. Most recently, they defeated Ireland in a one-off ODIs and Pakistan (4-0) in a five-match series.
If watching England lose came as a surprise, what was a bigger surprise was Afghanistan defeating Pakistan in their first match. Having chased down a 263-run target in the last over, Afghans gave a clear sign of what lies ahead for other teams.
Talking about their form lately, Afghanistan drew (1-1) a two-match series against Ireland after defeating Scotland (1-0) in a two-match series and drawing (2-2) against Ireland in India.
England vs Afghanistan – Predicted Playing XI
Since it is a warm-up match, both teams will be allowed to field more than 11 players. Hence, writing 11 names won’t make much sense. However, below are the names of some players who their teams will be looking to give a significant run.
Ahead of the 2019 World opener between England and South Africa, England would be looking to zero in on their fast bowlers. Their batting division looks dominating and pre-decided. Among the bowlers, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid didn’t bowl in the first match during to varying reasons.
Other than giving them a chance, the team management would also be looking to see Mark Wood bowl. The 29-year old fast bowler did dismiss Australia captain Aaron Finch (14) in his first spell but could only bowl 3.1 overs before leaving the field.
ALSO READ: Dream 11 Prediction | England vs Afghanistan | ICC Cricket World Cup 2019
Afghanistan utilized all their batting resources during the chase against Pakistan. Most of them getting to starts would surely have been pleasing for the team management. Much like England, Afghans would also be looking to focus attention on their bowlers and try to finalize the most apt combination for their first league match against Australia at Bristol on June 1.
England vs Afghanistan – Weather Prediction
The weather in London is expected to be mostly cloudy throughout the day. The news which both the teams would be cherishing is of minimal rain despite the cloud cover. Sun might partly show up towards the evening.
England vs Afghanistan – Toss Prediction
The excessive cloud cover might call for any captain to bowl first. However, it would also be a chance to test the batsmen’s skills. Since England batted first and Afghanistan second in their respective warm-up matches, we expect them to do the opposite today to see both sides of the coin before the tournament begins.
