Afghanistan wins toss chooses to bat first against England in CT 2025 clash

Published at: February 26, 2025 1:35 PM

Updated at: February 27, 2025 3:28 AM

Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bat first against England in the crucial Champions Trophy 2025 match at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

England had a tough start, losing their first match to Australia by five wickets after setting a target of 352 runs. Their performance has been on a downward trend since Jos Buttler took over as captain, with the team failing to defend both their T20 and 50-over World Cup titles. Now, England is at risk of an early exit from the Champions Trophy unless they can turn things around, beginning with their match against Afghanistan today.

With Australia and South Africa both having three points, they are favorites to reach the semi-finals from Group B. After Wednesday's match was abandoned, both England and Afghanistan are in a tight spot. The loser of today's match will be eliminated from the tournament. However, if rain affects the game, both teams still have a slim chance of making it to the semi-finals.

England and Afghanistan have met three times in ODIs, with England winning two of those encounters and Afghanistan securing one victory.

Afghanistan Squad:

Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Farid Malik, Naveed Zadran.
Reserves: Darwish Rasooli, Bilal Sami.

England Squad:

Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Rehan Ahmed, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood.