Men’s ODI WC: Unchanged England win toss, elect to bowl first against Afghanistan

New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS) England captain Jos Buttler has won the toss and elected to bowl first against Afghanistan in match 13 of 2023 Men's ODI World Cup, here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.

After winning the toss, Buttler said the side is unchanged from their 137-run win over Bangladesh in Dharamshala, also the first victory for the defending champions in the competition. It means that star all-rounder Ben Stokes continues to be on the sidelines.

"No particular reason (to bowl first), looks like a good wicket and we'll like to chase. Looks like a good batting strip, South Africa and India posted big scores. I think we've improved a lot from the first to the second game, we just have to show the same intensity," he said.

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said Najibullah Zadran is out and Ikram Alikhil comes into the playing eleven. The side is yet to post a win in the competition after suffering defeats to Bangladesh and India. “We wanted to bowl first, but this is a 100-over game, we'll have to bat well.”

"Looks like a batting pitch, expecting the same conditions like the last game. Hopeful of doing well and putting pressure on them. We've good spin options and anything around 300 should be a good score," he stated.

As per the pitch, which looks a flat one, 66m and 58m are the square boundaries, while the straight boundary is at 72m. England have a 2-0 lead over Afghanistan in Men’s ODI World Cup meetings.

Playing XIs:

England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (captain & wicketkeeper), Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood and Reece Topley

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicketkeeper), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi