Former World Champions England are facing a huge challenge in the race for a spot in the semifinals in the Champions Trophy and their task has been made further difficult with the match between Australia and South Africa getting abandoned by rain in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.
Set to play Afghanistan in a must-win Group B encounter at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday, England will be looking forward to setting aside the politics over withdrawing from the match against them due to the restrictions over women and girls in the Asian country under the Taliban regimen.
England came into the tournament with high expectations but were left stunned in their opening match against Australia. Despite Ben Duckett’s heroic 165-run knock, the Three Lions failed to defend 352, exposing their bowling frailties.
Adding to their woes, pacer Brydon Carse has been ruled out due to injury, which could prompt the inclusion of young leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed to bolster the spin attack alongside Adil Rashid.
While Afghanistan had stunned England in the 2023 World Cup in India, captain Jos Buttler said they are mostly concentrating on their own performance and not thinking much about that match.
He did say that Afghanistan is a competitive side with some good spin options.
Yeah obviously, a very competitive side, have been performing very well, getting better and better over the years, and give them lots of respect. Unique style in some senses with some great spin options in Rashid and Noor, obviously two standout guys that we need to prepare really well for. But as much as we look at the opposition, it's focusing on ourselves, bringing the best version of our cricket and being confident that that will be enough to win the game.
Afghanistan, who were outclassed by South Africa in their opening clash, are also facing a do-or-die situation. Chasing 316 in Karachi, they faltered at 208 despite a valiant 90 by Rahmat Shah. The Afghan side will look to put that defeat behind them and draw inspiration from their historic victory over England in the 2023 World Cup, where they stunned the cricketing world with a 69-run triumph.
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said the game against England is a tough challenge for them but expressed confidence in their abilities to beat the opponent to stay in the hunt for the semifinal race.
Afghanistan famously defeated England in the 2023 Cricket World Cup, pulling off a major upset. Shahidi acknowledged that while they will draw confidence from that victory, the upcoming encounter is a fresh start, and they will give their all to replicate the result.
In 2023 we had a good game against England and we beat them. We have that confidence with us but that's part of the history. And now we have to go to ground with a new mindset and with new planning. I think we all know that England is one of the best teams. It's a tough challenge for us but we are ready for any kind of challenge.
As I said, there are quality teams in the Champion Trophy, the world's top eight-ranked teams. So it's a tough challenge to face each other. These things give us confidence but at the same time, we have to work hard on the ground and have to play our best cricket on the day if we want to beat these teams.
Afghanistan are likely to bat first as Shahidi agreed that setting a target often gives them a better chance.
I think when we bat first, that gives us more chance: But at the same time, we beat teams in the last World Cup batting second too. And after that in the (bilateral) series also.
Wednesday's match will have a strong bearing on the semifinal race and both Afghanistan and England can't afford to lose the match as that will end their hopes in the match.
