Champions Trophy: Afghanistan elect to bat against Australia in key contest

Lahore: Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and elected to bat against Australia in a crucial Group B Champions Trophy match here on Friday.

Both Afghanistan and Australia are unchanged for this contest, the winner of which will qualify for the semifinals.

Australia were forced to split points with South Africa following in their last contest which was washed out, while Afghanistan knocked England out of the tournament with their eight-run win.

Teams: Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, and Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Australia: Matthew Short, Travis Head, Steven Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, and Spencer Johnson.