Rahmanullah Gurbaz gave Afghanistan a perfect start after England skipper Jos Buttler won the toss and invited them to bat first in the World Cup encounter in Delhi on Sunday.
Gurbaz slammed a 33-ball 50 as Afghanistan accumulated 79/0 at the end of first powerplay, which is their highest powerplay totals in World Cups.
Meanwhile, England have fielded an unchanged playing XI, which means Ben Stokes remains on the sidelines. Afghanistan, on the other hand, make one change as Ikram Ali Khil replaces Najibullah Zadran.
England head into the match after a strong 137-run victory over Bangladesh. The Three Lions, however, were given a reality check in the tournament opener as New Zealand had made a mockery of the stiff 283-run target and won the contest by nine wickets.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, are yet to open their account and will hope for an upset against the defending champions. The match is being played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, which so far has been a batter's paradise, thus the advantage will be with the opposition.
The good news for Afghanistan is their potent spin attack, which up to a certain extent can help them put some shackles on the star studded English line-up.
If we look at the 10-team points table, England stand fifth with two points from the same number of matches. Afghanistan, on the other hand, are placed last. A win for England will help them move into the top 4.