THE EDGE: The Edge previews the Champions Trophy clash between Afghanistan v England with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Afghanistan v England
MATCH OVERVIEW:
The Champions Trophy continues on Wednesday with the pressure on England in a must win game against Afghanistan on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. While all eyes will be on England given they are the heavy favourites, it’s a must win game for both sides given they both lost their opening games last week. Afghanistan were never really at the races against South Africa, while England looked to be in an excellent position with 351/8 on the board at the innings break but their bowlers weren’t able to defend it. Bowling has been a consistent issue for England in white ball cricket, but they ned to deliver now.
Afghanistan have been the wildcards at major tournaments for a few years now, but they haven’t been at the peak of their powers for a while. England came into the tournament under immense pressure; a loss here would likely see a huge negative reaction from the UK media. Their domestic 50 over competition isn’t fit for purpose given it’s been hidden behind the Hundred, and then of course with the ECB effectively having two squads, England’s ODI squad has felt like the unloved child for a while now.
Brendon McCullum is now in charge of white ball cricket too – England needed new life into the ODI team, but an early exit from this tournament would be seen as a continuation of their woeful ODI form. England also need to keep one eye on the Australia v South Africa game on Tuesday too; they might need a big win here for net run rate purposes! As always with Bazball; never a dull moment.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
So far in the Champions Trophy batting conditions have been very good in Pakistan. It’s actually been tougher to bat in Dubai! We’re back in Lahore and this was the venue where England couldn’t defend 351/8. Afghanistan conceded 315/6 against South Africa in a different venue; it’ll be interesting to see can they keep England down to that score because that would actually give them a decent chance at chasing. I think if your England you definitely have to chase given the net run rate – chasing is probably a no brainer here!
RECOMMENDED BET:
As you would expect, England come into the game as the red-hot favourites. They are trading 1.33 at the time of writing – although their bowling was lacklustre when trying to defend against Australia, it was really positive to finally see their batting fire. The bowlers come up against a different type of quality batter here in Afghanistan – as I said above, they haven’t been at their best recently and their batting lacks the firepower to trouble England in very good batting conditions. At 1.33, England are worth supporting in my opinion.
The Edge Says:
Two points win England to beat Afghanistan at 1.33 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/CTAfEn
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
The general scoring in Pakistan at the tournament has been very good, and you’d have to expect excellent batting conditions again here. You could say we might see a range in the scoring depending on who bats first, but in general you really want to be looking for trades on the batting side here. England’s bowling has been a major worry, so while the Afghanistan batting line-up might not be as strong as it was, they have the conditions here to put up a score. With the England batters in good touch though; I can see them firing their way to victory.
