Jason Roy sealed an England thrashing of Afghanistan as the tournament hosts cruised to victory in their final match before the World Cup.
Roy made 89 not out on his Surrey home ground on Monday as England hammered outsiders Afghanistan by nine wickets with nearly 200 balls to spare.
England, two days after losing their previous practice match to world champions Australia, returned to winning ways in convincing fashion ahead of their tournament opener against South Africa at the Oval on Thursday.
A target of 161 was never likely to test England, with Roy proving as much in a 46-ball innings that included 11 fours and four sixes.
Before play started, England were boosted by the news that fast bowler Mark Wood had been passed fit to face South Africa after a foot injury and that one-day captain Eoin Morgan was back in the team following a fractured finger.
Morgan did not field, however, and was not required to bat with the only wicket Afghanistan took coming when Jonny Bairstow was stumped by Rahmat Shah off Mohammad Nabi for 39.
Roy ended the match in the 18th over of England’s reply with a six over midwicket.
Archer strikes
Earlier, Jofra Archer and Joe Root took three wickets apiece as Afghanistan slumped to 160 all out.
Fast bowler Archer struck twice with the new ball to dismiss Hazratullah and Rahmat before ending some late resistance from Nabi.
Opener Noor Ali scrapped his way to 30 before he played on to all-rounder Ben Stokes.
Hashmatullah could not get going and that prompted Asghar Afghan to attack the occasional off-spin of Test captain Root.
But, having missed out on a first-ball full toss, Asghar tried to drive Root over the top but found Roy in the deep instead.
Afghanistan lost their next four wickets in a mere seven deliveries, Hashmatullah and Najibullah Zadran carelessly run out, Gulbadin Naib holing out to Moeen Ali and Rashid Khan steering Root to slip for a golden duck.
Afghanistan were in danger of being dismissed for under 100 before Nabi, with 44, helped the last two wickets add 68 runs.
Nabi’s defiant hitting, which included three sixes, kept England at bay before he was last man out when a thick edge off Archer carried to Bairstow on the boundary.
Australia cruise to victory
Australia concluded their World Cup preparation on an emphatic note, beating a struggling Sri Lanka by five wickets in their final warm-up game in Southampton. Usman Khawaja, who opened alongside skipper Aaron Finch in place of a rested David Warner, anchored the chase with 89 off 105 balls. Australia eventually breezed to victory in 44.5 overs.
Sri Lanka, who have lost eight of their last nine ODIs, scored 239/8 after opting to bat with opener Lahiru Thirimanne making 56 off 69 balls. Australia went into the game with 12 players like they did in their first warm-up game against England.
The Finch-led squad rested Warner, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Jason Behrendorff to give game time to those who did not take the field against favourites England on Saturday when Australia beat the World Cup hosts by 12 runs.
Pace spearhead Mitchell Starc bowled nine overs, picking up a wicket for 39 runs while Pat Cummins bowled eight overs in which he removed Thisara Perera and conceded 23 runs.
It was another clinical effort from Australia who have the become the team to beat in the upcoming World Cup alongside England. They staged a remarkable turnaround that began with a 3-2 series win in India in March before they blanked Pakistan 5-0 in the UAE.
They did all of that in the absence of Steve Smith and Warner who are now back to provide a massive boost to a unit that seems to be peaking at the right time.
