Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne believes the spinners that hit Afghanistan in the middle were for them to rank first in their final Group B encounter in Friday’s ICC Championship trophy. Australia’s final match against South Africa was eliminated on Tuesday at Rawalpindi, keeping their winning streak against Afghanistan into the final four games. Australia beat England in the championship opener, while Afghanistan also beat the 2019 ODI World Cup champion on Wednesday in an exciting thriller.
After a solid performance against England, Afghanistan will hope to win the victory over Australia to enter the semi-finals.
“Well, I mean, I think we’ll target both of these assets with bats and balls. I think if we hit the ball, we’re going to look for the middle of the swing with them, which is their really strong point of view.”
“They were very good in the last few games. NoorAhmed started very well; they ended the game last night. Then they went into their batting game – I saw that they had batsmen. I think last time – last time we also played Afghanistan – their highest order – their highest order, they met three hundred in the game and played three hundred in our game.
In previous encounters at the 2024 T20 World Cup, Afghanistan defeated Australia with 21 runs and reached the semi-finals of the ICC Championship for the first time.
However, Afghanistan was close to defeating the final world champion in the last ODI meeting during Mumbai’s 2023 ODI World Cup, but Glenn Maxwell’s majestic double tonnage brought the Australians past the Australian.
In preparations before the game started, Labuschagne said: “I think most of our preparations were done before the game started. Obviously, we had trained to rain and then the game rained down on South Africa and now our training was indoors. So the boys had already played a lot of competitions. We were ready to play. Obviously, when you were in these tournaments, you had a game ready, but we were ready.
Asked if Afghans still fail, Labuschagne replied: “Look, I’m not an expert, nor is it a person who thinks they are weak.
The Australian batsman further stated that although cricket Australia refused to restrict girls in sports, he had no problems with Afghanistan in the ICC Championships.
“Obviously, it’s an ICC tournament. With the timeline coming up, we’re playing Afghanistan. Personally, I can say, I have no questions about playing tomorrow. But obviously, in the past, we’ve had some stances in cricket in Australia. But, we’re just tomorrow, we’re just focusing on Afghanistan we’re playing tomorrow.”
(The story has not been edited by NDTV staff except the title and published from the joint feed.)
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