ENG vs AFG 14th Match, Super 12 Group 1 Prediction

ENG vs AFG Team Previews

England

England won a series in Pakistan (4-3) and then defeated Australia (2-0) in the week before the T20 World Cup 2022 starts. This is as close to the ideal preparation that England could have had. Most of the lineup for England is well settled with perhaps just a couple of questions to answer. 

The batting looks in great shape. Jos Buttler and Alex Hales will open the batting. Buttler smashed the Aussie bowlers around for fun and has also had a lot of success in the BBL. The same is true for Alex Hales. We think Dawid Malan will keep his position at number three followed by Ben Stokes at four. 

This is not an ideal situation as Stokes is at his best while opening the batting but Buttler has said plainly enough he wants Stokes to play. The big decision England will have is to choose between Harry Brooks and Liam Livingstone at number five. 

Brooks is in good form and scored a ton of runs in Pakistan but Livingstone is capable of hitting sixes at will. He also contributes with the ball. We think England will go with Livingstone. 

The injury to Reece Topley has made life a bit tough for England. They will now likely go with Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, and maybe Chris Jordan to round out their attack. The remaining position can be filled by a batter to suit favorable matchups. 

This is a solid team worthy of being eventual Champions.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan is under a tremendous amount of pressure coming into this match. It has not had too much match practice or success in T20 cricket recently. A good Asia Cup went largely unrewarded and the conditions in Australia will test them massively. They also have an injury scare as Rahmanullah Gurbaz had to go for scans after being hit on the toe by Shaheen Afridi in the warmup. 

Afghanistan's batting could struggle to match England's. The short ball is the obvious threat but just clearing the big boundaries and finding the right tempo to play at will be challenging as well. 

Rahmanullah Gurbaz is key at the top but other players like Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, and Mohammad Nabi need to step up. We think Ibrahim Zadran is perhaps the best suited to find success with the others expected to struggle. We will be betting against the Afghan batters. 

The bowling lineup has the famous trio of famous spinners. Both Mujeeb and Rashid have found success in the BBL but they don't really match up well against England. Nabi could actually pose the toughest questions. 

We don't have much hope from the Afghan fast bowlers. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen ul Haq are the two players likely to play the first match.