England will leave a World Cup they can hardly be said to have graced having at least avoided another catastrophe in their final pretty meaningless match. When you have been as desperate as England in this tournament any win is a good one so they will  be relieved to have avoided what would have been the most embarrassing defeat of them all. A gloomy, miserable Sydney day matched the mood and turned this dead rubber into a damp one, with England winning a truncated contest with ease. Ian Bell plays a shot as England cruise to victory against Afghanistan in their final match of the 2015 Cricket World Cup . Bell acknowledges the crowd after reaching his half-century towards the end of the match in Sydney . Bell (right) and James Taylor leave the field after securing a second victory for England at the Cricket World Cup . England coach Peter Moores is pictured following the conclusion of the match at the Sydney Cricket Ground . Afghanistan's Hamid Hassan (right) appeals unsuccessfully as England go on to claim victory . England bowler Chris Jordan (right) is presented with the Player of the Match award after posting figures of 2-13 . It will mean little to them but at least England avoided statistically their worst World Cup of all, their victories over Scotland and now Afghanistan matching their miserly returns of 1996 when they could defeat just Holland and the United Arab Emirates. This, though, feels much worse. The statistics, if we can dare mention them, will say that Afghanistan could only manage 111 for seven in the 36.2 overs that the weather allowed them before the third of three rain breaks brought their innings to a premature close. Then England, set 101 to win in 25 overs by Duckworth-Lewis, cruised home while losing just one wicket with 41 balls in hand, helped by a quite shocking fielding performance from Afghanistan. Alex Hales was dropped twice, both by Najibullah Zadran off the bowling of Shapoor Zadran, but showed the hitting he is capable of in reaching 37 before Afghanistan finally held on to a chance. And Ian Bell, playing in his 161st and surely his last one-day international for England with a new era about to dawn, signed off with an unbeaten 52. A general view of the Sydney Cricket Ground during a rain delay as dark clouds gather above the stadium . England captain Eoin Morgan (second left) walks off with Ian Bell as rain falls in Sydney on Friday . Groundsmen cover the pitch as the rain comes down on a wet afternoon in the Australian city . A steward stands in the rain as play is delayed due to the damp conditions in Sydney . Afghanistan's Nasir Jamal (left) plays a shot into the leg side on his way to scoring 17 runs . Shafiqullah is out as England fielder Ravi Bopara takes a successful catch to dismiss the Afghanistan batsman . Now England will slink off home on Saturday with much to contemplate if they are ever to have a chance of catching up with the big-hitters of this tournament who have simply left them behind in 50-over cricket. What cricket there was on Friday went England’s way, as it should against a team who have only been playing official cricket for the last 14 years. England had little to gain in their final group game and even more to lose against an Afghan team who have proved themselves here to be more than capable of causing some anxious moments for the established teams. But Afghanistan struggled against the moving ball and under leaden Sydney skies after Eoin Morgan had won an important toss in what might be the last game of his short reign as England’s one-day captain. Morgan is one of a number of senior England players who will have to wait and see whether they have a future in limited-overs cricket if the selectors take their only feasible option of starting from scratch with a new, young team. Two others who may be told to just concentrate on Test cricket in future are the established opening bowling pair of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad but both proved more than a handful for the inexperienced Afghan batsmen. Stuart Broad (second right) celebrates with his England team-mates after taking the wicket of Javed Ahmadi . Bell dives to his left to field a ball during Afghanistan's opening innings on Friday afternoon . Afghanistan's Jamal (left) walks off the field as Bopara (centre) celebrates with England team-mate James Taylor (right) England's James Tredwell (left) attempts to run out Najibullah Zadran but the Afghanistan batsman was safe . Neither Anderson nor Broad have been at their best here, one of the many reasons why England have struggled, but at least they will be pleased with how they finished, both picking up a wicket and conceding just 18 runs each. England were without the injured pair of Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali and the men who stood in for them could also be satisfied with their work. The decision to leave out Ravi Bopara on the eve of the tournament to replace him with Gary Ballance is one of many to backfire on England and here he showed that he is more than capable of doing a decent job in the field. Bopara picked up two wickets and took an outstanding catch in the deep to give himself something to remember if he too is playing his last England game. James Tredwell has suffered because of the rise of Moeen as an off-spinner but he was as steady as ever here while the pick of the England bowlers was Chris Jordan, something for them to cling to as they ponder the future. The World Cup, which has confirmed that 50-over cricket is very much alive and kicking in the Twenty20 era, will now go on without England and the sad truth is that they will not be missed at all. They have to start all over again now. Shafiqullah (centre) and Jamal (left) take a drinks break during the Pool A match in Sydney . Afghanistan fans show their support with flags and banners in the stands of the Sydney Cricket Ground . England fans dress up for their country's final match at this year's Cricket World Cup on Friday .
England won by nine wickets on the Duckworth-Lewis Method after comfortably reaching a target of 101 . Ian Bell was England's top scorer as he finished on 52 not out, while Chris Jordan took 2 for 13 . The match at the Sydney Cricket Ground was affected by a number of rain delays . England were knocked out of the Cricket World Cup earlier this week after defeat by Bangladesh . Friday's win against Afghanistan is just England's second win of the competition .