England v Afghanistan predictions: Curran could capitalise in Topley's absence

Free cricket tips, best bets and analysis for England v Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup on Saturday.

Where to watch

England v Afghanistan
Sky Sports Main Event & Cricket, midday Saturday

Best bet

Sam Curran to take two or more wickets
1pt 11-8 Coral, Ladbrokes

Match preview

After going the entire home summer without winning a series of limited-overs cricket, England have hit a rich vein of form at the perfect time for their Twenty20 World Cup opener against Afghanistan in Perth on Saturday.

In the last month, England have prevailed 4-3 in an away series against Pakistan and beaten Australia 2-0 on their own patch and they have been trimmed to 11-4 with most firms to win the T20 World Cup as a result.

Anything but a win for England in their tournament opener against Afghanistan would be a shock, although their bowling attack will be a touch weaker after Reece Topley was ruled out of the tournament with an ankle problem.

Topley enjoyed a super summer of white-ball cricket for England and his quality with the new ball and in the death overs will be missed.

But in Topley's absence, one player who could step up is all-rounder Sam Curran.

One of Curran's strengths is that he can take the ball at any stage in the innings but he has also established himself as a decent death bowler recently, defending 16 in the final over of England's first match with Australia earlier this month and 22 in the second.

He also picked up five wickets across those two matches and looks worth a bet to take two or more against Afghanistan.

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