Cricket Tips: A 7/2 shout tops our best England v Afghanistan bets

England to Win
Reece Topley to be England’s Top Wicket Taker
Dawid Malan to Score Over 36.5 Runs
Rashid Khan to be Afghanistan’s Top Wicket Taker

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

Sunday 9:30am: England v Afghanistan
Cricket World Cup group match
TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket

England to secure second win

England and Afghanistan have met only twice before, both clashes being in World Cups. England won by 150 runs in Manchester in 2019 – after Eoin Morgan famously hit 148 (including a record 17 sixes), and by nine wickets in 2015 when chasing a DLS-reduced target in a rain-affected game. England are heavy favourites and rightly so, expect England to win again.

Topley to be England’s top wicket-taker

Reece Topley performed well on his 50 Over World Cup debut, ripping through the Bangladesh top order to take 4-43 (including 3-18 inside the powerplay). The left-armer found 1.89 degrees of swing during his powerplay spell, the second highest amount of movement in a powerplay spell this World Cup.

Topley will be encouraged by Afghanistan’s struggles against left-arm pace. They average just 18.02 against the bowling type since the last World Cup, which is the lowest among all teams at the tournament. Topley to be England’s Top Wicket Taker is worth a look.

Malan over 36.5 runs

Dawid Malan and Joe Root have both made excellent starts to this World Cup. The duo put on 151 off just 117 deliveries through the middle overs against Bangladesh which perfectly encapsulates where they are so strong. Since the 2019 World Cup, Malan (130) and Root (94) have the first and third highest batting averages respectively in overs 11-40. Malan to score over 36.5 runs looks a solid bet.

Rashid Khan top wicket-taker

Afghanistan have one of the world’s premier white-ball bowlers in Rashid Khan. The leg-spinner has for many years been a formidable performer on the franchise circuit and England’s struggles against leg-spin, as well as his personal head-to-head with key England batters will give Afghanistan confidence.

Since the 2019 World Cup England collectively average just 22.03 against leg spin in ODIs – the lowest among the World Cup sides, while their scoring rate is in the middle of the pack at 5.47 runs per over. Khan has enjoyed T20 success against Jos Buttler, dismissing him four times, at an average of 12 and a strike rate of only 69.

Liam Livingstone has suffered similarly against Khan, being dismissed four times and averaging only 29. Livingstone’s strike rate does shoot up to 172 but it’s clear that Khan has the last laugh. Khan is well-set to be Afghanistan’s top wicket-taker.

England to Win
Reece Topley to be England’s Top Wicket Taker
Dawid Malan to Score Over 36.5 Runs
Rashid Khan to be Afghanistan’s Top Wicket Taker

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

• Cricket Tips: 20/1 Bairstow Shout Tops Our 6 outright World Cup Best Bets
  
• Snaffle Our Smashing Cricket Tips Here