England vs. Afghanistan, World T20: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

After a record chase against South Africa, England will aim to avoid being on the wrong end of an upset when they take on Afghanistan at the ICC World Twenty20 on Wednesday in Delhi.

Knowing a defeat would have pushed them to the brink of an early exit from the tournament, England reached a target of 230 to beat the Proteas on Friday and get their first points in Group 1.

Joe Root's excellent knock of 83 saw Eoin Morgan's side manage the highest successful run chase in the history of the T20 event:

Afghanistan, meanwhile, came through qualifying to reach the Super 10 stage. They have lost twice so far in Group 1, but they did not make life easy for opponents Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Date: Wednesday, March 23

Time: 3 p.m. local (9:30 a.m. GMT / 5:30 a.m. ET)

Venue: Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi, India

Live Stream and TV Info: Channel 9 and Fox Sports (Australia), Ariana TV Network (Afghanistan), BTV (Bangladesh), ESPN Star and Star Sports (India), SkySports NZ (New Zealand), Sky Sports 2 (UK), Willow TV (subscription, USA and Canada), PTV Sports and Ten Sports (Pakistan), SuperSport (South Africa), OSN Sports (Middle East)

Weather: According to AccuWeather.com, it will be hot and hazy in Delhi. Temperatures could be as high as 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 degrees Fahrenheit) for the day game.

Overview

Despite producing a stunning batting performance to see off South Africa, England would rather they didn't have to do things the hard way again.

For that to be the case, they have to improve with the ball.

The Proteas' total of 229 for four was not a one-off occurrence against England: The West Indies had chased down a target of 183 with six wickets and 11 balls to spare in the opening game in Group A.

However, both of those fixtures were at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, where bowlers were hampered by short boundaries and a seriously flat pitch. They also had to deal with the dew under the floodlights.

Now, England have moved on to the Feroz Shah Kotla, a venue that will be staging a men's Twenty20 international for the first time on Wednesday.

According to Lawrence Booth of the Daily Mail, the pitch in Delhi is expected to be "slower and lower" than the one England played on in Mumbai. Booth also suggested the surface could lead to an international debut for uncapped spinner Liam Dawson.

England's bowlers are undoubtedly under pressure. Spinner Moeen Ali's economy rate of nine runs per over is the best in a squad that has suffered two harrowing outings with the ball.

Meanwhile, the seam quartet of Chris Jordan, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley and David Willey have managed three wickets between them in a combined total of 24.1 overs.

They would hope to improve on those statistics against an ICC Associate Nation, even if Afghanistan did knock out Zimbabwe to reach this stage of the tournament.

Gareth Copley/Getty Images

However, England have lost to the Netherlands twice in World T20 history—in 2009 on home soil and then in Bangladesh in 2014.

Afghanistan are not a side who respect reputations, either.

After hitting 44 from 19 balls in the 37-run defeat to South Africa on Sunday, wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad even attacked an opposing bowler who didn't play in the game, per Andrew Miller of ESPN Cricinfo: "I love playing Dale Steyn because Dale Steyn is not dangerous."

If Steyn—who was surprisingly left out of the Proteas team at the weekend—doesn't worry the Afghanistan opener, then he will not be having sleepless nights over the prospect of facing England's attack.

The two nations have met only once before in T20 cricket. In the 2012 edition of the tournament, England bowled Afghanistan out for 80 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, having made 196 for five with the bat.

Only skipper Morgan and wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler remain from the XI on duty for England that day.

They, along with the rest of their current team-mates, can expect a tougher test in 2016.

Key Players

England

Root would be the obvious choice after his match-winning knock against South Africa, but Ben Stokes is the man England really need to hit top form.

The all-rounder must do better with the ball, particularly if he is one of only three seamers selected in Delhi. So far, Stokes has leaked 65 runs from his five overs, figures that must improve for his team to have a hope of success in the competition.

Afghanistan

Shahzad has been entertaining to watch with a bat in his hand. The diminutive right-hander has scored 194 runs at an average of 38.80, all at a strike rate of 145.86 runs per 100 balls faced.

However, he is also fun to keep an eye on when he dons the gloves to keep wicket. Never shy to offer an opinion to both bowler and captain, Shahzad wears his heart on his sleeve.

Squads

England

Eoin Morgan (capt), Sam Billings (wk), Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Reece Topley, David Willey, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Jordan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Liam Plunkett.

Afghanistan

Asghar Stanikzai (capt), Dawlat Zadran, Hamid Hassan, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Shafiqullah Shafiq, Amir Hamza, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Sadiq, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Noor Ali Zadran, Samiullah Shenwari, Shapoor Zadran, Mirwais Ashraf.

All stats used in the preview are from ESPN Cricinfo.