Slip in place now

Agar to Gurbaz, leg byes, 1 run, to short fine leg

Agar to Gurbaz, byes, FOUR, turn and bounce as soon as he tosses it up! Floated up full outside off, this was the orthodox delivery, Gurbaz looked to go over the off-side and misssed it completely, so did Wade

Agar to Gurbaz, no run

Agar to Gurbaz, no run, flatter delivery darted into the pads, looked like a seam-up delivery, hit his thigh pad

Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran are at the crease. Gurbaz is on strike. Agar will open the attack

Right then, nearly time for live action. Australia are in pursuit of their 9th straight T20I win. Can Afghanistan put a halt to that streak? Well, they better hope they do because it'll be curtains on their T20 WC campaign if they don't

Time for the anthems, Australia's followed by Afghanistan's

Josh Hazlewood: Didn’t know it was my 50th T20I. (On shifting formats) It’s just about adapting to the conditions. Sometimes, line and length works, other times it’s the yorkers and bouncers. It’s going to be a tough few days, we played on a different island just a couple of days ago and now we’re back, we’re island hopping at the moment. They’ve (Afghanistan) come a long way in the last 3-4 years, we found out in the 2023 WC. Their spinners are key.

Pitch report: "Extremely humid and sweaty. There’s an easterly wind blowing in the direction of the side that’s 70m, it’s 67m to the other side and 80m down the ground. All games have been low scoring here. There’s more water in this surface, nice covering of grass and it is rock hard. There will be some turn, batters will have to be at their best against spin and bowlers will have to hit the right lines and lengths. Every team that has won the toss has lost the game, reckon the team winning the toss should bat first and get runs on the board" say Matthew Hayden and Tom Moody.

Teams:

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Nangeyalia Kharote, Rashid Khan(c), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh(c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade(w), Pat Cummins, Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Rashid Khan: To be honest we wanted to bat first.

Australia have won the toss and have opted to field

Mitchell Marsh: We're going to bowl first, try and have a read on conditions and have a good night. We know Afghanistan are a good side. We just need to trust our process and enjoy it. Ashton Agar comes in for Mitchell Starc, purely conditions based.

Australia have won the toss and have opted to field

Australia are yet to be beaten in this tournament and they're coming off of a convincing win over Bangladesh. Afghanistan, meanwhile, arrive hoping to turn their fortunes around after a loss to India. A loss today will see their campaign cut short. They've never made it to the semi-finals stage of a World Cup before and if they want to change that, they'll need to start by beating Australia here today. That sets up what should be another spicy contest.

19:00 Local Time, 23:00 GMT, 04:30 IST: When you see an Australia vs Afghanistan contest, you'd be forgiven for assuming that it should be a relatively easy road to victory for Australia. But take the perennial underdogs Afghanistan lightly and they might just stun you. All you have to do is cast your mind back to the time these two sides met in the 2023 CWC. You might remember it for Maxwell's logic-defying knock but what you might not remember is the indiscreet batting from Australia that got them into a precarious situation in the first place. That said, take nothing away from Afghanistan, they play with great courage and passion and they've shown time and again that they've got what it takes to give these 'big' sides a run for their money. But, they've also shown at times that they lack the polish required to drive home the advantage. To beat the accomplished juggernaut that Australia are, Afghanistan will have to be chanceless.

Preview by Bharat Sundaresan

The ghosts of the Wankhede. Some have spoken about it. Others have stayed away from it but it's undeniable that every member of this Afghanistan team who was in Mumbai on November 6, 2023, will have some memories of what transpired that will never leave them. There they were poised potentially to pull off the biggest win as a national team. Even maybe on the cusp of doing so. Before Glenn Maxwell did what he did by producing arguably the greatest men's ODI World Cup knock ever.

Though not quite as dramatic, the only T20I match between the two sides also saw a spirited performance from Rashid Khan and his team, at his home-ground of the Adelaide Oval. And there were moments that night on November 4, 2022, where the Afghans pushed the home team enough to have them under pressure for most parts of the match. That was a must-win game for Australia to get into the semi-finals, much like this one in St Vincent will be for Afghanistan if they have any hopes of staying alive in the competition. A loss here will in all likelihood be the end of another World Cup campaign, which promised a lot, especially after the way they completely blanked New Zealand earlier in the tournament.

A win, however, will not only keep them alive but also potentially help theme exorcise some of the ghosts from the Wankhede, even if they will never leave them completely.

The two playing Xis will more or less be the same too, even if Maxwell will be striding out to bat a lot earlier in the Australian innings than he did on that unforgettable evening. Getting the better of their nemesis could well be one of the sub-plots to this highly-anticipated contest.

It would be unfair to say that the Australians have been a bit spooked with what they've seen of conditions in St Vincent so far on the TV. But there is concern for sure about how much the pitch will favour the spinners, thereby bringing the highly-skilled Afghan spin attack into the game a lot more. It might dictate how the Aussies themselves go about their approach to this Super 8s encounter, knowing full well that they have been a juggernaut so far in this World Cup and their latest win will get them a spot in the semi-finals, and within two more wins of completing that treble.

When: Australia vs Afghanistan, June 22, 08.30 PM Local, 06.00 am IST (June 23) 10.30 am (June 23) AEST

Where: Arnos Vale Stadium, Arnos Vale, Saint Vincent

What to expect: There's something very special about St Vincent. Despite being so close to slightly more major eastern Caribbean islands like St Lucia and Barbados, it's got a more natural and untouched feel to it. Even if it has got a lot of exposure over the years thanks to the Pirates of the Caribbean. Just like the pitch here has over the last week or so, ever since the T20 World Cup came to St Vincent. There's been less talk about the incredible setting of the Arnos Vale Stadium, which is right next to the eastern Caribbean Sea, but more about the 22 yards in the middle, with spin degrees having been the buzz word about the matches played here already. The weather will be cloudy and the outfield will be fast though, and it could potentially be the most intriguing match of the Super 8s so far.

Head to head: The team have faced off only once in T20Is previously, at the Adelaide Oval in the T20 WC 2022, Australia winning a last-over thriller by 4 runs.

Team Watch:

Australia: Ashton Agar was in some ways primed to be ready to come into the playing XI for this particular match when Australia picked him for their last Group 1 game against Scotland in St Lucia. Though it was a credible performance by the returning left-arm spinner, there is still some debate over whether the former champions actually pull the trigger or they stick with their go-to Plan A of having their future hall-of-fame pace trio do what they do best, especially in the wake of Pat Cummins coming off his first international hat-trick.

Tactics and match-ups: Left-arm pace has been a good option against most of Afghanistan's batters with the likes of Ibrahim Zadran (8) and Azmatullah Omarzai (9) being dismissed quite frequently against this type of bowling. It ought to keep Mitchell Starc in the equation right through.

Probable XI: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh (c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins/Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Afghanistan: Though they might have lost their way and a lot of their momentum in their previous two matches, there's still a lot to be wary of in this Afghanistan playing XI, which should retain the big-hitting Hazratullah Zazai. If the pitch does play the way it's expected to, then the seasoned bowling attack that Afghanistan have, led by Rashid himself, will be quite the handful and probably give them the best chance to finally get over the hoodoo against Australia in World Cups.

Tactics and match-ups: The in-form Marcus Stoinis could be up for a challenge in the middle overs against Rashid Khan who has dismissed him four times in T20s so far. This one-on-one battle could dictate how Australia fare in the middle overs with Rashid also having a similarly good match-up against Glenn Maxwell getting him out six times although the batter has a S/R over 160 against him.

Probable XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (c), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi