Morgan: The selection of the final 11 will be tough

Eoin Morgan admits he will have a “tough” job selecting his final 11 to start the World Cup opener against South Africa on Thursday after England beat Afghanistan by nine wickets in their final warm-up match.

Jofra Archer and Joe Root grabbed three wickets each as the hosts bowled out Afghanistan for 160 with 11.2 overs unused.

And it only took England 17.3 overs to reach the 161 needed to win their final World Cup warm-up match with Jason Roy crashing 89 from 46 balls.

England did lose Jonny Bairstow’s wicket for 39 but Joe Root provided the necessary support to help in-form Roy guide Morgan‘s side to victory.

“The guys put in a real strong performance today,” Morgan told Sky Sports. “Afghanistan are a very strong side and we are well aware of that.

“For a long time the competition for places has been extremely strong in our team. The selection of the final 11 will be tough. We have different options and hopefully on the day we will select the right one.

“Jason Roy showed exceptional form yet again today, Jonny Bairstow and the bowlers as well. We always look to be as aggressive as we can with the bat but the surface and opposition might determine we have to play smarter cricket.”

On the World Cup opener against South Africa: “It will be an extremely tough game. It will be a belting opener if you are a cricket fan. The venue and wicket wont let us down so hopefully the performance wont either.”