NEW DELHI: Defending champions England take on Afghanistan in the 13th Match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday.
England and Afghanistan have played only 2 ODIs against each other, both have been won by England and both the matches teams have been played at the World Cup.
England (101/1 off 18.5 overs) defeated Afghanistan (111/7) by 9 wickets (D/L method) at Sydney on March 13, 2015.
In the second match between the two sides, England (397-6) registered their highest World Cup total in beating Afghanistan (247/8) by 150 runs at Manchester on June 18, 2019.
England would not only look for the two points, but also give a booster dose to the net run-rate (NRR). At the business end of the tournament, in all likelihood, there is going to be a scramble for a spot in the semifinals and a superior NRR would be the differentiating factor.
On paper, it's an easy tie but defending champions will still be wary of unpredictable Afghanistan.
England are at the fifth spot in the ICC ODI rankings while Afghanistan are ninth.
The pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium should help batsmen again after the run fest between Sri Lanka and South Africa in which nearly 800 runs were scored.
The weather is expected to warm and sunny for the team batting first but slightly better later and should help in chase.
MILESTONE ALERT: Joe Root (917 @ average of 57.31, including 3 hundreds and 5 fifties, in 18 innings) needs 83 runs to become the first England batter to complete 1,000 runs in the World Cup.
