Temperatures in Lahore are expected to flare up as Afghanistan and Australia will fight it out on Friday for a place in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final.
The team that wins the game will qualify for the semi-finals while the losing team will be eliminated from the tournament. Afghanistan have already beaten England and knocked them out of the tournament.
Heading into their next game against Australia, Afghanistan's only focus is to beat the previous champions and etch their names in the record books of the tournament. Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott wants his players to focus on the Australia match after the celebrations of their win over England.
"I'm going to make sure when they wake up tomorrow, they enjoy tonight, (but) wake up tomorrow ready for Australia. As soon as they wake up tomorrow, the focus is on Australia," he told the media after their nail-biting victory over England as quoted by ICC.
AFG vs AUS Pitch Report
The Afghanistan v England game was a perfect example to understand the state of the pitch in Lahore. It has runs for the batters who are ready to spend time on that wicket as proved by Ibrahim Zadran and Joe Root. Both teams have quality spinners to reap the benefits of the second innings as well. For Afghanistan, it will be all about putting up a good total on the board if they bat first. If they bat second, they should not allow the Aussies to run away with the game in the first innings.
Australia too will be aware of how good Afghanistan were against England and should prepare themselves accordingly. Glenn Maxwell given the innings he played the last time will be the player to watch out for.
Also Read: ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Group B Qualification Scenarios After England's Exit
AFG vs AUS Weather Report
The weather held up pretty well for the game between Afghanistan and England. Despite the initial rain threat, it did not rain in the game much to the delight of the fans. There is a chance of rain in the morning in Lahore on Friday. However, the weather conditions in the afternoon after expected to be a lot cooler. Accuweather predicts 25 percent chance of rain in the afternoon. Weather conditions will remain mostly cloudy throughout the evening. There is not much of a rain threat late at night.
AFG vs AUS Squads
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
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
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