CWC 2023: England wins the toss and opts to field against Afghanistan

CHENNAI: Jos Buttler-led England won the toss and decided to field first against Hashmatullah Shahidi's Afghanistan in the 13th match of the ODI World Cup 2023 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. England are coming into this game after beating Bangladesh in their previous encounter and will be looking forward to continuing their winning streak.

On the other hand, Afghanistan has failed to clinch a win in their first two matches of the extravagant tournament. While speaking at the toss, Jos Buttler said that the pitch at Delhi is a pretty good batting wicket.

"Looks a pretty good batting wicket, we're playing a talented tough team but we'll focus on ourselves. We improved a lot from the first game to the second game, we pride ourselves on our intensity," Buttler said. On the other hand, Hashmatullah Shahidi confirmed that Ikram replaced Najib in the squad.

"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 as 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. One change, Najib is not playing, Ikram replaces him," Shahidi said. England playing XI: Jonny Bairstow (Wk/C), Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Reece Topley.

Afghanistan playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi. The 13th match of the tournament will kick of at 2:00 PM IST.