Steve Smith’s Australia will not be taking their Afghan opponents lightly when they take to the field in Lahore today. The Men in Yellow cruised through their first match against arch-rivals England, while their second match against South Africa was washed out, leaving them with 3 points and second place on the points table.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, were thrashed by South Africa in their first match, but bounced back strongly against England in their second to knock the 2019 World Cup winners out of the tournament.
Afghanistan will have the opportunity to show once again that they are no longer the underdogs of the cricketing world, but a fully-fledged powerhouse of a team that not only has the potential to beat their opponents, but the will and ability to do so at will.
The Australians, on the other hand, will be keen to show once again that, regardless of the losses they may have suffered in the build-up to the tournament, any team in yellow is a challenge to be reckoned with.
Australia vs Afghanistan match details
The Australia vs Afghanistan fixture in Group B will be played at the Gaddafi Cricket Stadium on Thursday (February 28). The AUS vs AFG clash starts at 2:30 PM IST with toss set to be held at 2:00PM.
To watch the telecast live on TV, one can switch to the following channels: Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2 HD, Sports18 – 1, Sports18 – 1 HD, Sports18 – 3, Sports18 – 2 and Star Sports First.
For people wanting to watch the live stream of the match, the JioHotstar app and website are the sole platforms for them.
Australia vs Afghanistan probable playing XIs
With both teams winning the last full match that they played, there is no need for a change in their playing XI, barring an injury.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman/Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqui
Australia: Travis Head, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Steve Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa
