England v Afghanistan T20 World Cup Tips: Buttler can go big

• England can wobble in chase
• Buttler and Najibullah a follow
• Expect runs on flat pitch

England v Afghanistan
Saturday 22 October, 12:00
TV: Live on Sky Sports

Team news

England suffered a significant blow to their title chances by losing Reece Topley for the tournament to injury. Tymal Mills is his replacement in the squad but we expect Chris Jordan to come in to take over death duty.

Othrwise England are likely to persists with Ben Stokes despite Liam Livingstone being available. In overs-reduced contests England might use them both for maximum batting power.

Probable XI: Buttler, Salt, Malan, Stokes, Brook, Moeen, S Curran, Woakes, Jordan, Rashid, Wood

Afghanistan could decide to hit England with an army of spinners. The excellent Rahsid Khan and Mujeeb-ur-Rahman are certain to play but Qais Ahmed is another option.

But they're not a one-trick pony with the ball. Naveen-ul-Haq and Farooqi are dangerous pacers and although Afghanistan play weaker opposition, their position as the No 1-ranked team for bowling economy has some worth.

Probable XI: Gurbaz, Hazratullah, Ibrahim, Najibullah, Nabi, Omarzai, Rashid, Mujeeb, Naveen, Farooqi

Pitch report

The Perth pitch is full of runs. More than 160 has bee busted 14 times in the last 20 matches and England made 208 there against the Aussies in the pre-tournament series. Australia replied with 200.

The innings runs market will be wise so England for 190 or 200 could be our most likely starting points.

Sportsbook go 13/8 that both sides score 160. That could well be a wager given England's issue on bowling economy and Afghanistan may recognise they need to put their foot down.

How to play

England are 1.152/13 with Afghanistan 7.4013/2. Clearly betting pre toss is fraught with danger. If Afghnaistan bat second they are likely to be looking at something big so their price willl be bigger.

There is a smidge of a chance that if they bat first they could give England a fright. Posting something in the region of 170 and then using their spinners could give an England team which has lost eight of its last ten chases the willies.

Tops value

Alex Hales made 84 in that game against Australia and Jos Buttler 68. The pair are 5/2 and 11/5 respectively for top England bat honours. The latter price is boosted and worth a go. For Afghanistan, Najibullah Zadran is underrated at 13/2.