Plenty at stake for both sides in a rare meeting between Australia and Afghanistan
Australia v Afghanistan: All you need to know
Semi-final spots on the line! Afghanistan can do their chances of featuring in the knockouts a world of good by claiming another scalp, having already defeated England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. However, Australia are running hot at the moment with five wins under their belt and will start firm favourites.
Match facts
Who: Australia v Afghanistan
When: Tuesday November 7. Coin toss at 7:00pm AEDT, first ball at 7:30pm AEDT (2:00pm local)
Where: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
How to watch: Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports and Nine (starts on GEM in Brisbane, Perth)
Officials: Michael Gough and Alex Wharf (standing), Chris Gaffaney (third), Shahid Saikat (fourth)
Live scores: Match Centre
Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live app, the Unplayable Podcast
The Squads
Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq
Australia could have their full 15 to pick from for the first time this tournament, assuming Steve Smith is cleared to play despite experiencing symptoms of vertigo during the week. Mitch Marsh is back from Perth and Glenn Maxwell is on track to return from concussion.
Local knowledge
The Wankhede Stadium is one of the most famous Indian grounds with a history of hosting World Cup and Indian Premier League finals. Named after the politician who commissioned its construction, this ground has seen more than its fair share of high-scoring matches.
Australia played here earlier in the year, losing to India by five wickets despite Mitch Marsh's 81 and Mitch Starc's 3-49.
There have been no shortage of runs in the three matches held here in this tournament, with scores of 7-399, 5-382 and 8-357 in the first-innings scores so far.
Although it hosted the 2011 World Cup final, it has been demoted to hosting the first semi-final this time around.
Probable Starting XIs
Australia: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Josh Inglis (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hasmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq
If Marsh and Maxwell can come straight back in it makes for a tough decision for the selectors. Cameron Green expects to miss out, and one of either Marnus Labuschagne or Marcus Stoinis will also drop out. Steve Smith will be given every chance to ensure his recovery from vertigo.
The Afghans have had a very settled line up throughout the tournament, with eight of their squad having featured in every match so far. On the back of three wins in a row, it wouldn't be unusal to see them line up unchanged. They will be hoping the Wankhede pitch is helpful for the spinners, with all four tweakers in Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad and Mohammad Nabi in good form, but we could well see Noor make way for seamer Naveen-ul-Haq.
Recent form
Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, N: no result
Australia: WWWWWLLWLL
It was a tough start to the World Cup for Australia with losses to India and South Africa but they have reversed their fortunes with five straight wins. Another on Tuesday will cement a semi-final spot.
Afghanistan: WWWLWLLNWW
It's been a dream campaign for Afghanistan who have notched together three wins on the trot to give themselves a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals for the first time. It might be their loss to strugglers Bangladesh in their opening match of the tournament that could cost them.
World Cup Standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
Last time they met
You have to go back to the previous World Cup for the last meeting, where Australia recorded a seven-wicket win in Bristol. The Afghans were bowled out for 207 with David Warner (89no) and Aaron Finch (66) making light work of the target.
Head-to-head
Overall: Australia (three wins), Afghanistan (no wins)
Most runs: David Warner (291), Steve Smith (113), Glenn Maxwell (91)
Most wickets: Mitch Starc (7), Mitchell Johnson (6), Shapoor Zadran (4)
Unsurprisingly Australia have dominated the three matches between the two sides, with their 275-run win in Perth in 2015 the biggest World Cup margin in history at the time, before Australia beat their own record against Netherlands at this tournament (309 runs).
Rapid stats
- This will be the fourth meeting between Australia and Afghanistan in men’s ODIs and the first since June 2019; Australia have won all three of their previous encounters.
- Afghanistan have now won (77) as many men’s ODIs as they have lost (77) and their next win against a full member nation will be their 50th against such teams; they’ve won six games against full member nations in 2023 which is their most in a year since 2018.
- Afghanistan have won their last three games in a row in men’s ODIs in India – their longest ever winning streak in the format.
- Afghanistan trio Mohammad Nabi (4.0), Noor Ahmad (4.2), and Rashid Khan (4.6) each have better bowling economy rates than any Australia bowlers at the World Cup; Glenn Maxwell (4.8) has the best bowling economy of any Australia player.
- Australia have a batting strike rate of 111.3 during the Powerplay in the 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup, the highest of any team in the competition; Afghanistan have a batting strike rate of 87.9 during this period.
Where to next?
Australia finish the group stage with a match against Bangladesh in Pune while Afghanistan taken on South Africa in Ahmedabad.
Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures
October 8: Lost to India by six wickets
October 12: Lost to South Africa by 134 runs
October 16: Beat Sri Lanka by five wickets
October 20: Beat Pakistan by 62 runs
October 25: Beat Netherlands by 309 runs
October 28: Beat New Zealand by five runs
November 4: Beat England by 33 runs
November 7: v Afghanistan, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
November 11: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
2023 World Cup standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points