World Cup debutants Afghanistan have found the going very tough so far, squandering a golden opportunity to beat Sri Lanka while suffering heavy defeats at the hands of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and they face another unenviable task when taking on pre-tournament favourites England at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

The likes of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman arrived in England with big reputations but have been unable to make a big impact as yet while the batting has really struggled, particularly in the face of hostile, quick bowling.

Afghanistan had no answers to Jofra Archer's raw pace when bundled out for only 160 in the World Cup warm-up clash between the two sides and England seem sure to use the short ball regularly once more as they bid to take another step towards the knockout stages.

Barring a disappointing defeat at the hands of Pakistan, England have started their World Cup campaign in typically impressive fashion and had far too many guns for the West Indies when cruising to an eight-wicket victory on Friday.

Nevertheless, Jason Roy and Eoin Morgan both picked up injuries in that match and with the possibility that both will be missing on Tuesday, the top England batsman market has opened up nicely.

Roy is certain to be absent, meaning James Vince should make his first appearance of the tournament, and even if Morgan does recover from his back issue, Ben Stokes looks worth a bet at 9/1.

Stokes has looked in good touch over the last few weeks, kicking off the campaign with a classy 89 against South Africa and then finishing not out in Friday's victory, while the all-rounder man has also picked up five wickets with the ball to go with his stunning catch in the tournament opener.