England vs. Afghanistan: Date, Live Stream, TV Info, Cricket World Cup Preview
England will be hoping to salvage what’s left of their battered reputation at the Cricket World Cup when they take on Afghanistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The Three Lions will fly home from the competition after this encounter after failing to progress to the quarter-finals, and even a win in this fixture would do little to lift the gloom that has engulfed English cricket in the wake of their embarrassing loss to Bangladesh.
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It’s a big game for Afghanistan, though. The Associate nation would move above England in Pool A with a win and, while they too cannot qualify for the last eight, this up-and-coming side may not get many better opportunities to land a victory against a Test-playing nation at a World Cup.
Here’s all the information you need on where to catch this one live and a closer look at the fortunes of both teams coming into the match.
Date: Friday, March 13
Time: 3:30 a.m. (GMT), 11:30 p.m. (ET) 2:30 p.m.
Live Stream: Sky Go (UK), ESPN Cricket 2015 (US)
TV Info: Sky Sports 2 (UK)
England Looking To Avoid Further Embarrassment
After some miserable performances from this Three Lions team, it was quite remarkable that they still had a chance of even making it into the knockout phase of this competition. But England probably got what they deserved against Bangladesh in that narrow defeat, and big questions have naturally been asked in the wake of such an abject World Cup performance.
As noted by Freddie Wilde of ESPN Cricinfo, the cricketing world seems to have surged past this ponderous outfit in recent years:
Looking ahead to this game, with little to play for, there should be opportunities for players on the fringes of the squad to come in and potentially make an impact. From an English perspective, hopefully some bright displays from young stars can provide a chink of light at the end of the tunnel.
However, Jamie Jackson of The Guardian actually thinks an England win would be a shock at this juncture:
Indeed, for Afghanistan this match represents a major opportunity to pick up what would be one of the most important wins in their history. They have some bright players within their ranks and as was evident in their thrilling triumph over Scotland earlier in the tournament, they definitely have the stomach for the fight in tight clashes.
As noted by Elizabeth Ammon of the BBC, there are a few quality players within the Associate nation’s ranks:
They’ll definitely be a lot more hungry than this downtrodden England side, but encouragingly for the long-suffering supporters of the Three Lions, it looks as though they could be spared further embarrassment by the weather, as noted by Adam Mountford of the BBC:
If the game does go ahead, it’s easy to see Afghanistan potentially causing a shock. After beating Scotland they’ve already achieved their primary aim of getting their first World Cup win, and they’ll be desperate but not under any great pressure to finish on a high.
By comparison, you can imagine the English lads will just be desperate to get this one done, start the long journey home and face the inevitable forensic examination their moribund performances have prompted.
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