England face off against Afghanistan in a must-win match in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Lahore on Wednesday. The match starts from 2.30 pm IST.
England lost their previous match against Australia, while Afghanistan lost to South Africa. Thus this is a must-win match for both teams if they are to stay alive in this tournament. A loss for either of the two teams puts them out of the tournament.
Meanwhile, the match between Australia and South Africa has been washed out in Rawalpindi. This means that the England vs Afghanistan match will be a virtual knockout game between the two sides. The team that loses the contest will be eliminated from the tournament. Pakistan and Bangladesh have already been eliminated in Group A.
The Australia vs South Africa game was the first game to be abandoned in this edition of the Champions Trophy. For the Aussies, it was their fourth abandoned game in last eight appearances in the Champions Trophy. Meanwhile, this abandoned match makes things tricky in Group B with the remaining matches all being virtual knockout games.
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AFG vs ENG Pitch Report
So far all three venues have been batting-friendly wickets. While there have been a few high-scoring games, the average first innings score across the venues is between 250-280. Teams will need to bat a lot better if they are to score over 300. Chasing has been much easier as Australia proved against England, the Kiwis proved against Bangladesh and India proved against Pakistan. With both sides having quality spinners, the pitch is expected to assist them in this match. Spin to win might be the formulae for both sides. Spinners overall, in this tournament so far have been harder to negotiate.
AFG vs ENG Weather Report
The match in Rawalpindi between Australia and South Africa was abandoned due to rain with not even the toss taking place. The forecast for the match between Afghanistan and England in Lahore does not look good either. As per latest reports, it has been raining in Lahore as well but it is expected to ease out before the match starts.
Also Read: ICC Champions Trophy 2025 - England Pacer Brydon Carse Ruled Out Ahead Of Afghanistan Clash
AFG vs ENG Squads
England: Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Rehan Ahmed, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Farid Malik, Naveed Zadran
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