Unchanged Aussies bowling first in crunch Afghanistan clash

Australia have backed in their wet-behind-the-ears pace attack for their crunch Champions Trophy clash with Afghanistan after the Gaddafi Stadium emerged from a spell of rain on Friday.

Afghanistan will bat first after winning the toss with the wet weather that has followed the Aussies from Rawalpindi, where their match with South Africa was washed out, clearing before the day-night contest in Lahore in time for what shapes as a virtual quarter-final.

Australia XI: Matt Short, Travis Head, Steve Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson

 

Afghanistan XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi was confident in predicting the pitch, the same one used for Australia's win over England on Saturday would slow up as the match wears on.

But his counterpart Steve Smith was adamant he would have bowled first anyway, sticking to the strategy that worked in the England game when night-time dew helped them chase 356.

Australia's pre-match training session was moved indoors as Lahore was drenched on Thursday, but the ground was in shape for a match that will likely decide the second Group B semi-finalist behind South Africa, who face the already-eliminated England tomorrow.

After Smith suggested the Aussies changed their XI twice for their eventually abandoned Proteas game, they have ended up sticking fat with the side that defeated England in the tournament opener on Saturday.

"It was probably going to be a little bit different," Smith said earlier this week when asked about the line-up for South Africa match. "And then when we were watching the rainfall, we were probably looking at another team for a rain-reduced game."

Australia's biggest call for their match against Afghanistan was on retaining Spencer Johnson (who conceded 54 from seven overs against England) as one of two left-arm quicks alongside Ben Dwarshuis (3-66 from 10 in the same game).

Given none of Johnson, Dwarshuis nor fellow quick Nathan Ellis have played more than 10 ODIs, recalling one of their more experienced allrounders in Sean Abbott or Aaron Hardie could have been tempting.

So it leaves Smith to again cobble overs from Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short and Marnus Labuschagne as they look to contain an Afghan batting unit led by Ibrahim Zadran, fresh off a Champions Trophy record 177 that sunk England earlier this week.

Zadran is no stranger to the Aussies; he hit his country's first World Cup hundred against them in Mumbai in 2023 in a match made famous by Maxwell's freak unbeaten double-century.

Australia's middle-order conquered a pace-heavy England attack in their opening game, highlighted by a match-winning Josh Inglis century. A different challenge awaits against Afghan's renowned spin attack led by star leggie Rashid Khan.

"We’ll be looking to combat their spin through the middle which has been their really strong point," Marnus Labuschagne said on Thursday.

"Their pace bowling has been very good in the last few games. (Wrist-spinner) Noor Ahmed started really well; they finished off the game really well last night."

Afghanistan knocked Australia out of last year's T20 World Cup when they beat them in St Vincent, but have never won against them in a one-dayer.

"We saw that they've got batters," said Labuschagne. "I think last time – last time we played Afghanistan as well – their top order, they got (close to) 300 and Maxwell played that amazing innings and got us over the line."

2025 ICC Men's Champions Trophy

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Australia's Group B fixtures

February 22: beat England by five wickets (15 balls remaining)

February 25: no result v South Africa

February 28: Afghanistan v Australia, Lahore (8pm AEDT)

March 4: Semi-final 1, Dubai (8pm AEDT)

March 5: Semi-final 2, Lahore (8pm AEDT)

March 9: Final, Lahore or Dubai (8pm AEDT)

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