Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and elected to bat first against Australia in a crucial match. Australia captain Steven Smith said that he would have opted to bowl if he had won the toss. The two teams face off in a crucial match of the Champions Trophy at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Friday. Neither team has changed their playing XI from their last match.

In the tournament, runs have crossed 300 in all four innings of the previous two matches at this ground. This time too, there will be a big score, said Ian Bishop and Matthew Hayden in the pitch report. In the previous match here, Afghanistan won by an average of 8 runs against England, chasing a target of 325 runs. In their first match here against England, Australia won by 5 wickets, chasing a target of 352 runs. This is the record for the highest run chase victory in an ICC tournament.

The winner of this match will advance to the semi-finals. If Afghanistan loses, they will be eliminated from the tournament. If Australia loses, they will have to rely on the results of the matches between South Africa and England. If the match is washed out due to rain, the Australians will be assured of a ticket to the last four. Afghanistan has not yet defeated Australia in four ODIs.