England look to gain momentum

New Delhi : Their campaign back on track after the humiliating loss in the opener, title holders England would look for a dominating all-round effort against a battered Afghanistan in the World Cup here on Sunday, with eyes firmly set on bettering their net run rate. Jos Buttler-led side bounced back in style, humbling Bangladesh by 137 runs in Dharamsala . Despite putting up a competitive 282 for nine in the opener at a batting-friendly Narendra Modi Stadium pitch, England bowlers were taken to the cleaners by Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra as New Zealand romped home in 36.2 overs.

Opening the batting, Dawid Malan smashed 140 off 107 balls, while Joe Root continued his fine form with consecutive half-centuries. Jonny Bairstow too contributed a valuable 50 up the order. They would be banking on another good start from their openers to post a massive total on a flat pitch at the relatively smaller Arun Jaitley Stadium that has witnessed huge scores in all the matches it has hosted so far in the tournament.

Besides, England would not just look for a victory against Afghanistan but would also want to win the match handsomely to boost their net run rate (NRR), which took a beating in their opener. The Afghans, on the other hand, are low on confidence after successive defeats. Dark-horses Afghanistan lost by six wickets against Bangladesh before they were thrashed by hosts India by eight wickets. Come Sunday, they would look for a reversal and cause the first upset of the tournament.