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. 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. 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 on Friday. Afghanistan defeated Australia by 21 runs in their previous encounter in the 2024 T20 World Cup, and reached the semi-final of an ICC tournament for the first time. Australian batter further said that he has no issues playing against Afghanistan despite Cricket Australia has refused to play bilateral cricket with the country due to restrictions on girls in sports. He said, \”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’re going to make sure we come really well prepared and put a really good performance together\”
