🏏ICC Men's T20I WC 2022 - Super 12 - Group 1 - ENG vs AFG🏏

🏏Welcome to ICC Men's T20I World Cup 2022🏏

Super 12 - Group 1

Afghanistan vs England on 22/10/2022 at 4:30 PM IST at Perth Stadium Perth

Arising Afghanistan against established England. You couldn't wish for a more intriguing fixture, especially as the teams' tournament openers. England have won both T20Is they have played against the Afghans, by 116 and 15 runs in the 2012 and 2016 editions of what is now the format's men's World Cup. But that won't count for much.

Since that 2016 meeting, Afghanistan have won 40 of their 57 T20Is, including six against Bangladesh, three against Sri Lanka and one against West Indies. They've also given the game spectacular talents like Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who have earned fame and fortune far beyond Afghanistan's borders.

"They're very, very skilled in playing all around the world; certainly here in the Big Bash and for various franchises," Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott told a press conference on Friday about his premier slow bowlers. "So inside knowledge and experience of playing with or against the opposition in all of our matches is going to be crucial from those guys - and passing that on."

What have England done in T20I terms while all that's been going on? Recovered from losing series to West Indies, India and South Africa this year by beating Pakistan away and World Cup hosts Australia to go into the tournament ranked below only India.

"We're in a good spot," Jos Buttler acknowledged, even in the wake of Reece Topley being ruled out with an ankle injury. "Everyone is champing at the bit to get going now. We've had some really good games leading into the tournament. "We're very ready. I think we're a dangerous team. We've got a lot of talented players who can win games on their own, and that's a huge thing in T20 cricket."

Geographical differences in Australia can be easily understood from the difference in climatic conditions in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne. Scheduled to host a match each across a couple of days, there’s a drastic change in weather forecast for these cities.

While Sydney and Melbourne are expected to host matches amid a lot of rainfall, Perth doesn’t have any such prediction for Saturday night. Hence, both players and fans can be rest assured of a full 40-over intriguing contest. As a result, the match might become the first Super 12 match to be played without the interruption of inclement weather conditions.

Perth weather:

A pleasant and cool evening should allow uninterrupted play to happen during the England vs Afghanistan match. Scheduled to be played after more than 24 hours, there is literally no probability of rain to pour down over the Perth Stadium according to weather portal AccuWeather.

Pitch Report

The WACA pitch has been traditionally quite fast and the bowlers will enjoy the assistance from the conditions. It is a tough ground to defend and the skipper winning the toss will be looking to bowl first at the venue.

England Predicted Playing XI: Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes / David Willey, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark WoodALSO READ

Afghanistan Predicted Playing XI: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (capt), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

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Stats and trivia

England and Afghanistan have faced each other on two previous occasions in T20Is, at the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka, and in the 2016 event in India four years later. England won both matches, but were made to sweat in Delhi, eventually winning by 15 runs, en route to the final.

The most recent of their four meetings in all internationals came at Old Trafford in the 2019 World Cup, a match made memorable by Eoin Morgan's world-record haul of 17 sixes in his 148 from 71 balls.

Ben Stokes needs 25 runs to reach 500 in T20Is. He has yet to make a half-century in 37 appearances.

Quotes

"I think we're a dangerous team who have players who can win games on their own and that's a huge thing in T20 cricket."

Jos Buttler is confident in the ability of his team-mates to seize the day

"Nowadays with the way that analysts, analysing games with regards to technology and that sort of stuff, I don't think there's much you can say that isn't available."

Jonathan Trott, Afghanistan's head coach, plays down any suggestion that he'll have an inside-track on his fellow countrymen

Did you know?

- Both England and Afghanistan players are quite well accustomed to the Australian conditions. The two teams have been the biggest exporters of players to BBL in the recent period. Across the last three editions of BBL, 57% of overseas slots have been filled by players from these two nations.

- Since the 2021 T20 World Cup, in the 10 matches England have batted first (excluding rain-curtailed game in Canberra last week), they have crossed 200+ five times and hit 199 in another.

- Since the start of 2021, only two Afghanistan batters have scored at a strike rate of over 125 in T20Is while Najibullah Zadran is the only batter with a double of 30+ average and 130+ strike rate.

In the spotlight

This is Jos Buttler's time to shine. England's captain has been eased back to full fitness since the calf strain that ended his home season back in August, including through a full seven-match tour of Pakistan in which he didn't feature even once. But the patience from England's management looks as though it has paid off, with a brace of formidable half-centuries in last week's 2-0 series win over Australia including a comeback innings of 68 from 32 balls at this same Perth venue. In the course of his 132-run opening stand with Alex Hales, Buttler tapped unstintingly into the prolific mindset that earned him the MVP award at last season's IPL, as well as 269 runs at 89.66 and a strike-rate of 151.12 in the previous T20 World Cup 12 months ago. At the age of 32, Buttler is a young captain in the context of the world-beating white-ball set-up that was forged under his predecessor Eoin Morgan, but he's at the absolute peak of his personal powers right now, and seemingly in the mood to lead England's campaign from the front.

Rashid Khan is Afghanistan's blue-chip asset - a competitor who is not simply world-class but arguably the best in his business, as attested to by a career haul of 118 T20I wickets in just 71 matches, and at an incredible economy-rate of 6.24. His methods as a wristspinner are simple but devastating - a flat, wicket-to-wicket approach, with unrelenting accuracy, indecipherable movement both ways, and a speed through the air that confounds any attempt at second-guessing. Factor in his fielding and a swordsman's flair with the bat, and it's little wonder he's a marquee pick at any tournament he turns his hand to. That said, he does not have especially happy memories of his last encounter with England. At Old Trafford in the 2019 World Cup, he was panned for an eyewatering 110 runs in nine overs as Eoin Morgan's six-laden century set the eventual champions up for their highest total of the tournament, and to judge by Alex Hales' comments in the build-up to the match, England fancy their chances of taking him down on a similarly springy surface. "Of all the grounds to play him at, Perth is probably one of the friendlier ones as a batter," Hales said. We shall have to wait and see.

We are nearing the conclusion of the first week of the mega event, and the World Cup fever is starting to get frenzy with two-time champions knocked out from the first round of the competition, and a couple of other teams earning a well-deserved spot in the Super 12s. As if that wasn't exciting enough, the defending champions are seemingly in a spot of bother against their Antipodean rivals. Hello and a warm welcome. It's the second game of the day where England are set to lock horns against one of the most improved Asian side in recent times - Afghanistan. Both these teams have only played twice in T20Is (in 2012 & 2016 WCs) and the record stands 2-0 in favour of England. Can Afghanistan turn it around tonight?

Thank you, Raji, for the thread and for tagging me. 🤗