England are back in action at the Cricket World Cup on Tuesday with Afghanistan their opponents at Old Trafford - Richard Mann previews the action.
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World Cup debutants Afghanistan have found the going very tough so far, squandering a golden opportunity to beat Sri Lanka while suffering heavy defeats at the hands of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and they face another unenviable task when taking on pre-tournament favourites England at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
The likes of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman arrived in England with big reputations but have been unable to make a big impact as yet while the batting has really struggled, particularly in the face of hostile, quick bowling.
Afghanistan had no answers to Jofra Archer's raw pace when bundled out for only 160 in the World Cup warm-up clash between the two sides and England seem sure to use the short ball regularly once more as they bid to take another step towards the knockout stages.
Barring a disappointing defeat at the hands of Pakistan, England have started their World Cup campaign in typically impressive fashion and had far too many guns for the West Indies when cruising to an eight-wicket victory on Friday.
Nevertheless, Jason Roy and Eoin Morgan both picked up injuries in that match and with the possibility that both will be missing on Tuesday, the top England batsman market has opened up nicely.
Roy is certain to be absent, meaning James Vince should make his first appearance of the tournament, and even if Morgan does recover from his back issue, Ben Stokes looks worth a bet at 9/1.
Stokes has looked in good touch over the last few weeks, kicking off the campaign with a classy 89 against South Africa and then finishing not out in Friday's victory, while the all-rounder man has also picked up five wickets with the ball to go with his stunning catch in the tournament opener.
Having made the headlines for the wrong reasons in the last 18 months, Stokes appears determined to make his mark at this World Cup and like the big-stage performer that he is, don't be surprised if he makes the tournament his own in the next few weeks.
Roy's absence removes one huge runner for top England batsman honours on Tuesday and even if Morgan does win his own fitness battle, he wouldn't be one to support too heavily given Afghanistan's decent pace attack might well opt to test his back with the short ball.
Joe Root's sublime form - two centuries in the tournament already - makes him the obvious threat to Stokes but he is priced up accordingly while Jonny Bairstow's promising starts might not be enough to outscore the Durham man if Afghanistan can make enough early inroads to ensure Stokes comes to the crease with plenty of overs to bat.
With a bet like this, plenty is left to chance but odds of 9/1 are big enough to make it a punt worth taking.
Staying with England's batting innings, Mohammad Nabi looks overpriced for top Afghanistan bowling honours at 7/2 and he completes the staking plan.
The usually excellent Rashid Khan is as short as 11/10 in this market but he has only picked up three wickets at an average of 38.00 in the tournament so far and given his reputation and strong returns in the Vitality T20 Blast for Sussex last summer, England might be happy to play him with caution and take risks elsewhere.
Nabi's off-spin picked up 4/30 against Sri Lanka earlier in the competition and he has bowled tidily in Afghanistan's two outings since.
He remains Afghanistan's leading wicket taker at this World Cup and 7/2 for him to continue that trend against England looks plain wrong.
Posted at 1300 BST on 17/06/19.
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