Match of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy brings us a David v Goliath encounter between Afghanistan and England which will be contested at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on 26th February 2025.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 | Match 8 Afghanistan vs England | 14:30 IST, February 26th
The first match of the ICC Champions Trophy at the Gaddafi Stadium saw Australia register a record chase in ODI ICC tournaments to hand England a confidence sapping defeat in Match 4. In all three recent ODIs at the venue, the team batting first has breached the 300-mark every single time with both Australia and New Zealand chasing down their targets with relative ease. Thus, it’s safe to say that this is perhaps the best ground for batters in the ICC Champions Trophy this year.
Looking at both the teams ahead of this crucial Group B fixture, both Afghanistan and England were handed defeats in their opening encounters, meaning any slips here could prove fatal to their knockout aspirations. While England were in the game for large parts against Australia, underdogs Afghanistan were thoroughly outplayed in every single department by the Proteas.
Unlike Karachi, where the pitch had very little assistance for spinners, the pitches in Lahore tend to favour both batters and spin bowlers, bringing the Afghan spinners into play. Moreover, keeping in mind England’s recent struggles against the Indian spinners, the Afghan spinners will be licking their lips if they’re served with a hard and dry wicket.
England have a history of dropping games against minnows in ICC tournaments from time to time, be it the Netherlands, Scotland, Ireland, or Bangladesh in recent events. Despite a strong batting performance against Australia, there are still question marks over some of their batters. Their bowling attack, too, except Adil Rashid, have been lacklustre at best. Thus, if the conditions are right, this match has the potential to be a real banana skin for the Three Lions.
Fantasy XI: Jos Buttler, Philip Salt (c), Rahmat Shah, Ben Duckett, Joe Root (vc), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer
Venue: Lahore, Pakistan
Winners Prediction: England
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