Daijiworld Media Network
Colombo, Sep 21: Hello and welcome everyone. People love to back the underdogs and Afghanistan have managed to garner a lot more support after their spirited show against India. The KP factor will be looming large for England but they will be desperate to end all talk with a convincing show.
Afghanistan have won the toss and elected to field.
Stuart Broad: 'It looks a cracking wicket and we're ready to go. We are playing with three seamers. The guys are coming in with a lot of confidence. It is about who plays well through these three weeks. We have to be right on top of our game against Afghanistan just like we have to against all other teams.'
Nawroz Mangal: 'We'll bowl first. We have made one change. It was hard work in the previous game. Hope we do well.'
Teams:
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Mohammad Shahzad, Nawroz Mangal(c), Karim Sadiq(w), Asghar Stanikzai, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shenwari, Shafiqullah Shafiq, Gulbodin Naib, Izatullah Dawlatzai, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran
England (Playing XI): Craig Kieswetter(w), Alex Hales, Luke Wright, Eoin Morgan, Jonathan Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Samit Patel, Stuart Broad(c), Graeme Swann, Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach
Preview by Vishaal Loganathan
Afghanistan will look to press on from their impressive showing against India with another good display against defending champions England. England on the otherhand will look to get their title-defense off to a solid start and send out a warning to the other teams vying for top honour in Sri Lanka
Afghanistan
The cricketing minnows showed they are no push-overs when they had India fighting tooth and nail to emerge winners. Nawroz Mangal's men will take a lot of heart from their compelling performance and would have had England sitting up and taking notice. The skipper, Karim Sadiq and Mohammad Nabi all had good outing with the bat during the chase while the Zadrans(Shapoor and Dawlat) had a superb impact while opening the bowling.
Afghanistan's main concern will be the rest of their bowling department. Apart from the opening combo, the Asian nation leaked 99 runs in their remaining 12 overs to let India off the hook. Another worrying factor will be their catching, the Afghans put down one chance too many, and that too off important batsmen and missed the chance to restrict India to a lower score. They will hope for no such slip-ups against the defending Champions.
Mangal's men will have nothing to lose against the English and will hope for another all-out performance from their players.
England
The strength of this English side is its ability to bounce back from difficult positions and never give up. They have a good all-round squad with a mix of youth and experience.
The inclusion of Jonny Bairstow, Alex Hales and Jos Buttler would give the batting a new dimension. Craig Kieswetter looks in splendid form and raring to go. Eoin Morgan would provide the necessary experience to the middle order. The seam bowling looks good with Tim Bresnan, Broad and Finn leading the pace attack. In Graeme Swann they have probably the best spinner in the game at present (alongside Saeed Ajmal). The team also boasts of some very handy all-rounders in Samit Patel, Luke Wright and Alex Hales.
The team does not have a world class batsman amongst its ranks with Kevin Pietersen, Alastair Cook and Ian Bell not in the side. Except Eoin Morgan, there is no one to provide that calming influence in the middle-order.
Watch out for
Mohammad Nabi: The experienced all-rounder was key to Afghanistan's good performance in their first game. He had a disappointing outing with the ball, but made up for it with a blitzkrieg while batting. If he gets his bowling intact, he will be a vital cog in the Afghan team.
Craig Kiesetter: Craig Kieswetter is ready to showcase the talent he possesses. The wicketkeeper-batsman would look to provide the innings with the impetus and the fireworks at the top of the order. His ability to clear the ropes at will, excellent hand-eye coordination and sublime timing would make him one key for England.
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