Afghanistan and Australia provide Friday's in the ICC Champions Trophy, Lahore is the venue and a place in the semi final is up for grabs.
This is penultimate match in Group b which is currently topped by South Africa and Australia who both have 3 points and the Proteas have the better net run rate. Afghanistan are third and need a win here to guarantee their semi final spot. England, who have lost both their matches will be returning home after Saturday's clash with the Proteas in Karachi.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan went into Wednesday's clash with England at this venue in the knowledge that defeat would see them eliminated and a cracking contest went their way by 8 runs to keep them in the hunt for the semi finals.
Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bat first but England had them in early trouble at 37/3 in 8.5 overs. Ibrahim Zadran then took control and went on to make 177 off 146 balls. Shahidi , Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi all chipped in with 40 or so and the innings closed on 325/7. It was nip and tuck for much of England's run chase but Afghanistan came through and Azmatullah Omarzai claimed 5 wickets as England were all out for 317 with a ball remaining.
Afghanistan's opening game saw them go down to South Africa by 107 runs in Karachi. They lost the toss and were invited to bowl first against the Proteas who posted a very healthy 315/6 in their 50 overs. Nabi with figures of 2/51 was the pick of the Afghan bowlers. After 14 overs of the chase Afghanistan had lost 4 wickets and had 50 runs on the board. Rahmat Shah made 90 off 92 balls but no other batsman made it into the 20's as they were bowled out for 208 in 43.3 overs.
This was how Afghanistan lined up last time out.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Australia
Australia;s second group match, against South Africa was washed out without a toss taking place which leaves them needing to avoid defeat here to advance to the semi finals.
In their opening game they beat England by 5 wickets at this venue. Australia won the toss and opted to bowl and England piled on 351/8 in their 50 overs. Ben Dwarshuis returned figures of 3/66, Zampa, with 64/2 was the other stand out bowler and although Nathan Ellis didn't pick up a wicket he was economical, going for 51 in his 10 overs. Australia's run chase started badly, 2/27 early in the fifth over. The middle order then got to grips with the England attack, Josh Inglis was unbeaten on 120, Labuschagne made 47 and Alex Carey 69 and a late cameo from Maxwell saw them get up in 47.3 overs.
This was how Australia lined up in their opening game
Matthew Short, Travis Head, Steven Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 4 times in this format and Australia have won all of those matches.
The only recent meeting came in the 2023 World Cup in Mumbai and Australia won by 3 wickets thanks to a double ton from Glenn Maxwell.
The Betting
At the time of writing Afghanistan are 11/4 to win this match and Australia 0.27/1 favourites
Prices subject to change
The Verdict
Lahore has delivered two high scoring matches with both sides getting the better of England at this venue. I'm going to side with Noor Ahmad as top Afghan bowler.
Bet: Top Afghanistan Bowler Noor Ahmed at 2.95/1 with Betway
