Afghanistan faces Australia in must-win clash

Australia is set to face dangerous Afghanistan in a crucial game of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on Friday (tomorrow).

It seems to be highly competitive match after Afghanistan sent England packing at the same venue on Wednesday night with an eight-run win over them thanks to Ibrahim Zadran’s record 177 and pacer Azmatullah Omarzai’s 5-58.

There is also chance of a rain at 5pm on Friday. If it rains out still Australia will qualify for the semi-finals as they already have three points to their credit.

Australia took a smart start when they managed a record chase against England in their first match at Lahore on February 22. They chased down the 352-run target with 15 balls to spare after losing five wickets in the process.

However, Aussies’ second game against South Africa in Pindi the other day was washed out with both sides sharing one point each.

Australia had to train indoor on Thursday following a rain at the Punjab capital which has been gripped by thick clouds.

Josh Inglis, Matthew Short, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell and Alex Carey are in fine touch.

Although their pace attack is inexperienced but they have a dangerous leggie in Adam Zampa who has the ability to unsettle the opposition.

Afghanistan have emerged a real force in ODI cricket in recent years.

Having won four matches in the 2023 World Cup in India their progression has been on track. Australia had narrowly survived Afghans in the 2023 World Cup game but it were Afghans who downed them by 21 runs in the 2024 T20 World Cup. So, things will not be that easier for Aussies to beat Afghans with the sort of confidence through which they defeated struggling England.

Afghanistan has a fine batting line-up and the best thing in them is that their batsmen are learning quickly.

The presence of Younis Khan in their dressing room as mentor also helps them to grow as a batting unit.

Their spin-attack, featuring Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad, could be lethal on a given day and it would be difficult for Australia to handle them in the middle overs which usually decide the fate of the game.

“We would be targeting both our sets. If we are batting, we would be trying to combat their spin options through the middle which is their strong point,” Australia’s middle order batsman Marnus Labuschagne told a pre-match news conference on Thursday.

“Their (Afghanistan) pace bowling has been very good in the last few games. They started very well and they finished off the game last night and going into their batting we saw that they have good batters. Last time we played against Afghanistan, they played well, their top order batters did well and they scored around 300 and then Maxwell played that amazing innings and anchored us over the line and so and in different parts of the game we would attack,” Labuschagne said.

"It's hard to comment on the result. Obviously, we love to win tomorrow and silence the crowd. It's all about making sure we stick to a process, making sure we will engage in the game. We are ready to play and it does not matter what the situation is we will come out and perform our best,” Labuschagne said.

“If match rains out it means we go through to the semi-finals but obviously we would love to win the game tomorrow and finish at the top of the group and that's something we will do. Both things are in our control,” Labuschagne said.

“We know Afghanistan how good they are and the skills they have and we will come well prepared and put up a very good performance together,” Labuschagne said.

Afghanistan’s head coach Jonathan Trott said he is very confident about Afghans win.

“Since I have been head coach, we played against Australia three times and we were in the game in each of those matches,” Trott said.

“I am very confident and well-prepared to combat Australia’s attack. I expect to win every game,” he said.

Squads

Australia: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa.

Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Farid Malik, Naveed Zadran.