Spin to win against England, Afghanistan at advantage?

What's the story?

The host nation England is one of the favorite teams to win this World Cup. However, Afghanistan, on the other hand, is an underdog, as they do not have much experience at this level against big teams. Until now, Afghanistan has not won a single match in this tournament. However, they had a close match with Sri Lanka, which did not finish on their side. Their strength is their spin bowling.

In case you didn't know...

In their first match, against Australia, David Warner played spin well as he has faced both Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi before in the IPL. Further, against Sri Lanka, Nabi was their leading wicket-taker, where he picked four wickets. Out of these four wickets, he picked three wickets in a single over. Then against New Zealand, Rashid could not bowl as he sustained an injury while batting. Moreover, against South Africa, Rashid did not have a good outing with the ball.

Heart of the matter

However, against England, who they will play next in this tournament do not have a good record against the spin. From their series against Pakistan, England has lost 16 wickets against spinners out of their 48 wickets in the ODIs until now. Joe Root and Eoin Morgan are the batsmen who frequently get out against the spin.

What's next?

This match between England and Afghanistan is going to happen in Manchester. Manchester provided some assistance to the spinsters in the India-Pakistan match. Further, teams like South Africa and Pakistan did start with the spin against England and found success. Moreover, another good thing for Afghanistan is that Jason Roy and Eoin Morgan will not play against them due to injury. The English batsmen struggled against Imad Wasim during the ODI series against Pakistan. Therefore, Rashid could trouble them.

With Manchester showing signs of spin and England’s struggle against it, Afghanistan has got a good chance to open their account on the points table. However, they would have to bat well too.

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