World Cup 2019: Who has an advantage in the clash of the favorites?

After India's emphatic win against the arch-rivals Pakistan, all eyes are now set upon the most highly anticipated match between the hot favorites India and England.

England gave Afghanistan a reality check in the encounter on Tuesday crushing them by a handsome margin of 150 runs, after setting up a mammoth total of 398 courtesy half-centuries from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow; topped up by a magnificent knock of 148 runs by the captain Eoin Morgan. He absolutely decimated the associate nation's feeble looking bowling attack; eventually breaking the world record by hitting 17 sixes.

India and England are heavily reliant on the top order to do the bulk of the run scoring. Unfortunately, both have lost one of their opening batsmen Shikhar Dhawan and Jason Roy due to injuries. KL Rahul and James Vince have been drafted in as replacements respectively. KL has gladly accepted the opportunity by both hands scoring a solid 57 against Pakistan. On the contrary, James Vince hasn't really got going and failed to impress in both his outings against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

Strike rotation during the middle overs is a key factor in setting up a big target. India played 152 dot balls yesterday in their match against Afghanistan finally ending up on 224 which was a below par score. Indian batsmen except Virat, looked clueless against the spin trio of Mujeeb, Nabi and Rashid. MS Dhoni could not put his slow start into overdrive as he scored a sluggish 28 0ff 52 balls. Bumrah and Shami ensured an Indian victory but if you ask any Indian fan, it was a bit too close for comfort.

Looking from the bowling perspective, both the teams look extremely strong. Indian bowlers specially, seem to have a foot on the throat of the opposition batsmen by bowling tight lines and lengths; cutting down the scoring rate ensuring low achievable targets. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been exceptional at the top and the end. The deadly duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have been picking up crucial wickets during the middle overs. Talking about England, Jofra Archer has been simply sensational, supported equally by Mark Wood and Chris Woakes. Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali have bowled nicely in tandem.

Fielding wise India have looked really sharp in the field, putting down just one catch in the four games they've played whereas England have let numerous chances slip down. The ground fielding has been brilliant as usual. The pitch at Edgbaston can be stated as a true wicket, offering a little bit for everyone.

England versus India encounter on the 30th of June is surely going to be a cracker-jack of a game.

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