Match Analysis In Brief

KEY BETTING STATS

• Afghanistan have lost each of their last eight official ODIs – To Win the Match
• Dawid Malan has scored 431 runs across his last five official ODI innings for England – Team – Top Batter
• Mujeeb Ur Rahman has taken under 1.5 wickets in each of his last six official ODI appearances for Afghanistan – Bowler Total Match Wickets

BETTING ANALYSIS/TIPS For ENGLAND

Bringing Reece Topley into the starting line-up in place of Moeen Ali paid dividends for England against Bangladesh. The left-arm pace bowler made a huge impact with the new ball and ended up taking four wickets in a 137-run victory. Therefore, the expectation is that England will field the same team in Delhi for this next match, although be aware that fast bowler Mark Wood could be rested, with tougher fixtures on paper still to come.

Plenty of betting value is available among the England batters, who could be set to cash in on what has been a batter’s paradise so far in this tournament against a side that conceded 273 runs in just 35 overs on the same ground this past Tuesday. Opener Dawid Malan is coming off the back of a century and has plundered scores of 140, 14, 127, 96, and 54 across his last five ODI innings. Back Malan to score a fifty in this match (2.20) and also to finish as England’s top batter (4.00).

The second bet will see Malan face stern competition from Joe Root, a master in subcontinental conditions. Batting at number three, Root has passed 50 in both of England’s World Cup fixtures so far and is well worth backing to do the same here (2.20) via the ‘Batter Milestones’ market. Investors looking for a higher profit can support Root to go that extra step this time around and score a hundred (4.33).

Afghanistan’s last match saw them lose eight wickets to India, only one of which came via a spin bowler. This, combined with Reece Topley’s 4/43 vs Bangladesh, makes the pacer an enticing bet to finish as England’s top bowler (4.50) for a second consecutive fixture.

BETTING ANALYSIS/TIPS For AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan’s bowlers are expected to struggle against a formidable England batting line-up, especially considering that they have taken just six wickets across their two group games, a six-wicket loss vs Bangladesh, and an eight-wicket defeat to India. Both Fazalhaq Farooqi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have picked up just one wicket between them.

Should they each be named in Afghanistan’s starting line-up, then back Farooqi (1.50) and Mujeeb (1.50) to pick up under 1.5 wickets via the Bowler Total Match Wickets market? Fellow bowler Rashid Khan showed his quality against India, taking each of Afghanistan’s two wickets, and the spin-bowling superstar will be crucial to any success they have here. Back Rashid to be the top bowler (3.60) for Afghanistan once again.

Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz is known for his six-hitting ability, and despite being dismissed for scores of under 50 in each of his two innings so far in this tournament, the wicket-keeper-batter successfully cleared the ropes once on both occasions. On a ground that has already seen 46 sixes scored across the two games it has hosted thus far, back Gurbaz to score over 0.5 match sixes against England (2.50).

CRICKET 8’S EXPERT PREDICTION

The two 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup fixtures to be played at Arun Jaitley Stadium so far have seen 1,299 runs scored across four innings, which suggests that a high-scoring encounter is on the cards here on what should be another wonderful batting surface. This suits England and the way they play perfectly. After racking up a score of 364 against Bangladesh, they’ll be eying up another large total against Afghanistan should they be batting first again.

Over the course of those two previous matches in Delhi, four hundreds were scored, including a magnificent 131 by Rohit Sharma in a successful run chase of 273 vs Afghanistan. With that in mind, regardless of whether England is setting or chasing a target here, back one of their players to reach three figures with the bat against the same opposition.

TIP

AN ENGLAND PLAYER TO SCORE A HUNDRED IN THE MATCH (2.25)

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