Afghanistan v Australia: ICC Champions Trophy preview

Australia take on Afghanistan in their final group game at the ICC Champions Trophy, with the winners of the Friday showdown in Lahore guaranteed to progress through to the semi-finals.

The Baggy Green opened up in Pakistan with a thrilling five-wicket victory over England, before the weather intervened to wash out their clash with South Africa in Rawalpindi three days later.

Afghanistan, meanwhile, were thumped by 107 runs by the Proteas in their first outing, before a magnificent 177 from Ibrahim Zadran guided them to a nerve-shredding eight-run win over England, who have already been eliminated from the tournament.

A washout in Lahore or an Australia win would see the Baggy Green secure a last-four spot, with the final group standings to be decided by South Africa’s match against England in Karachi on Saturday.

Afghanistan v Australia betting preview

Aussies enjoy perfect ODI H2H record

The head-to-head record between these two sides in one-day international cricket reads played four and four wins for Australia, so history is certainly on the side of the Baggy Green.

The last three of those victories have come at World Cups, with their most recent meeting at the 2023 tournament an absolute classic which saw Glenn Maxwell smack a truly astonishing double century as Australia edged home by three wickets.

Maxwell also blasted 88 from 39 balls in the 2015 World Cup meeting between these two sides, while his 32 not out against England in the Aussies’ tournament opener put the seal on a superb chase of 352 to win against the Three Lions.

Maxwell’s off-spin may well also be important, with him having bowled seven overs against England in Lahore, while Matt Short and Marnus Labuschagne were also utilised to back up star leggie Adam Zampa.

Short took a wicket as well as making 66 with the bat, while Labuschagne dismissed both Ben Duckett and Brydon Carse before contributing 47 to the successful Aussie chase.

Left-arm seamer Ben Dwarshuis should keep his place after taking three wickets against England in what was just his third ODI appearance, with the Aussie pace attack shorn of the services of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

Afghans aim to cause an upset

Despite having lost all four of the one-dayers they have played against Australia to date, Afghanistan can take inspiration from a T20 World Cup success against the Baggy Green last year.

A 21-run victory was crucial to the Afghans making the semi-finals in the Caribbean, with opening batter Ibrahim Zadran making 51 as he and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (60) put on 118 for the first wicket.

Right-hander Zadran also made 129 not out in the 50-over World Cup loss to Australia in 2023, while his truly outstanding tournament record innings of 177 against England was absolutely crucial to a clutch victory.

Zadran averages just in excess of 51 across 35 ODIs played to date, but he was nearly pipped to the Player of the Match award against the Three Lions by all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai.

Azmatullah cracked 41 from 31 balls with the bat before taking 5-58 with his right-arm seamers, including the key wickets of centurion Joe Root and skipper Jos Buttler, as well as Adil Rashid to seal the win.

Those performances have helped ease the pressure on Rashid Khan.

He has taken one wicket for 125 runs conceded across the games against South Africa and England, with the star leg-spinner just one short of the 200 mark in one-day international cricket.

Afghanistan v Australia odds

Afghanistan - 4.00
Australia - 1.25

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.