Australia won the toss and elected to field first against Afghanistan at the Arnos Vale Stadium in St. Vincent in the Super 8 clash of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 on Saturday. 

Batting first, Afghanistan posted 148-6 in their allotted 20 overs courtesy fifties by openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran.

Gurbaz (60 off 49) and Zadran (51 off 48) become the first-ever pair with three century stands in a T20I series after nothing up 118 runs for the first wicket.

Pat Cummins led the charge for Australia at the backend of the innings after picking up another hat-trick. The pacer now has two hat-tricks in two back-to-back games and on both occasions it was across two different overs.

This is a must-win match for Afghanistan since a defeat will rule them out of the race for the semi-finals.

Australia, on the other hand, won their Super 8 opener against Bangladesh and another win today will help them qualify for the semi-finals, alongside India in Group 1.

Mitchell Marsh, Australia Captain, said at the toss that “we’re going to bowl first, try and have a read on conditions and have a good night. We know Afghanistan are a good side. We just need to trust our process and enjoy it”.

Ashton Agar comes in for Mitchell Starc for Australia due to the spin-friendly conditions.

A couple of changes have been made by Afghanistan as well with Nangeyalia Karote and Karim Janat coming in for Najibullah Zadran and Hazratullah Zazai.

Match Referee Sir Richie Richardson is unwell and will not be able to perform his duties in this match. He has been replaced by Jeff Crowe, who will be officiating remotely.

Teams:

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Nangeyalia Kharote, Rashid Khan (c), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood