England vs Afghanistan T20 World Cup 2022: Toss result and playing 11s for today's match, umpires list and pitch report
England will take on Afghanistan in the second Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Perth on Saturday, October 22. The Englishmen have won both their matches against Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup. They hammered the Afghans by 116 runs in 2012 and then registered a 15-run win in 2016.
To be fair, the current Afghanistan team is much stronger and more experienced than they were when they last met the Englishmen at the T20 World Cup. In Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, they have arguably two of the best T20 spinners, who have plenty of franchise cricket experience. Hazratullah Zazai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz are dangerous openers.
England will undoubtedly go into the game with the upper hand. Skipper Jos Buttlerโs return to form after recovering from injury is positive news. Alex Hales is back as well. They have plenty of firepower in both batting and bowling. But spin has been their undoing in the past. This is one area where Afghanistan might trouble the former champions.
Today's ENG vs AFG toss result
England have won the toss and have opted to bowl first. Speaking about the decision, Jos Buttler said:
โWe're going to have a bowl. We would like to chase. It has been a long road. There have been some really good games for us and we are as ready as we can be.โ
England have left out Tymal Mills, Phil Salt, David Willey and Chris Jordan from the playing XI.
ENG vs AFG - Today's match playing XIs
England: Jos Buttler (c &wk), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (w), Ibrahim Zadran, Usman Ghani, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Today's ENG vs AFG pitch report
The pitch in Perth is expected to be skiddy with bounce as well. However, plenty of runs can also be scored on the surface.
Today's ENG vs AFG match players list
England: Jos Buttler (c & wk), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Tymal Mills, Philip Salt, Harry Brook
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Mohammad Nabi (c), Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Usman Ghani, Qais Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem Safi
ENG vs AFG - Today's match umpires
On-field umpires: Aleem Dar, Chris Brown
TV umpire: Paul Reiffel
Match Referee: Andy Pycroft