ICC Champions Trophy: Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne feels that combatting Afghanistan spinners in the middle overs will be crucial for them to come out on top in their final Group B encounter in the ICC Champions Trophy on Friday.
Australia’s last game against group-toppers South Africa was washed out in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, leaving them in a must-win situation against Afghanistan to progress to the last four. Australia defeated England by five wickets in their tournament opener while Afghanistan also defeated the 2019 ODI World Cup winners by eight runs in a nail-biting thriller on Wednesday.
After a solid performance against England, Afghanistan will be looking to make it to the semi-final with a win over Australia.
“Well, I mean I think we’ll be targeting sort of both assets with the bat and with the ball. I think if we’re batting, we’ll be looking to combat their spin through the middle which has been their really strong point,” Labuschagne told reporters in the press conference.
“Their pace bowling has been very good in the last few games. Noor Ahmed started really well; they finished off the game really well last night. And then going into their batting – we saw that they’ve got batters. I think last time – last time we played Afghanistan as well – their top order, they got three hundred and Maxwell played that amazing innings and got us over the line. Different parts of the game we’re going to attack – both so it’s just going to have to be – play what’s in front of us tomorrow,” he added.
In their previous encounter in the 2024 T20 World Cup, Afghanistan defeated Australia by 21 runs and reached the semi-final of an ICC tournament for the first time.
However, in their last ODI meeting during the 2023 ODI World Cup in Mumbai, Afghanistan came close to beating the eventual world champions but Glenn Maxwell’s majestic double-ton took Aussies over the line.
On preparations ahead of the match, Labuschagne said, “I think most of our preparation sort of came before the tournament. Obviously, we’ve had a training rain out and then the game rain out against South Africa and our training now is indoors. So, the boys have played a lot. We’re ready to go. I think, obviously when you come to these tournaments, you have to be prepared to play. We’ve had obviously a game off and our preparation has been altered, but we’ll be ready to go tomorrow.
When asked about whether are Afghans still underdogs, Labuschagne replied, “Look, I’m not a pundit or someone that deems if they’re underdog or not. We’re playing Afghanistan and we know how good they are and we know the skill level that they play with, but we’re going to make sure we come really well prepared and put a really good performance together.”
Australian batter further said that he has no issues playing against Afghanistan in an ICC tournament despite Cricket Australia has refused to play bilateral cricket with the country due to restrictions on girls in sports.
When asked about whether are Afghans still underdogs, Labuschagne replied, “Look, I’m not a pundit or someone that deems if they’re underdog or not. We’re playing Afghanistan and we know how good they are and we know the skill level that they play with, but we’re going to make sure we come really well prepared and put a really good performance together.”
Article Source: IANS
