A rare encounter

Matches between Australia and Afghanistan are an increasingly rare event, as Australia cite a human rights stance, and have even pledged to suspend bilateral ties, as long as the Taliban remain in power.

However, the two teams do compete against each other at ICC events. The last time the two teams encountered each other was at the 2024 T20 World Cup, during the super eights. Afghanistan won that match as they set a target of 149 runs, before getting Australia all out for just 127. However, the alst time the two teams played in the ODI format was in the 2023 world cup. After a rough start, Australia were able to win thanks to some heroics from Glenn Maxwell.

Afghanistan are looking for revenge. They currently stand at 48 for one after nine over.