Spin key in crucial Australia-Afghanistan contest

The Australia-Afghanistan T20 World Cup Super Eight clash at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown today is potentially a must-win contest for Rashid Khan and Co as a defeat will see the Afghans hoping for other outcomes going their way in order to qualify for the semis. 

Meanwhile, Australia can ill-afford to slip up as they would be looking to further boost their chances of progressing from Group 1 following a 28-run win (DLS) in their first Super Eight fixture against Bangladesh in Antigua on Friday.

Another reason why the Aussies will be desperate to avoid an upset against Afghanistan is that Mitchell Marsh and Co will then be left with the prospect of confirming their semifinal spot through a win in a high-voltage final Super Eight game against India in St.Lucia on June 24.

Australia might have to tinker with their eleven for the game, considering they will be going against a spin-heavy Afghanistan on the spin-friendly wicket of Kingstown in St Vincent. In the three matches played at this venue so far in this World Cup, spinners have ruled the roost with 27 wickets against pacers' 17.

Australia are wary of the fact as pacer Pat Cummins mentioned that even taking the first hattrick of the ongoing edition – in their last game against Bangladesh -- may not save him from the axe when Australia line-up against Afghanistan.

In order to bolster their spin prowess, any one of Cummins, Josh Hazlewood or Mitchell Starc -- all of whom had started against Bangladesh -- might have to sit out the game in favour of another spinner.

"Yes, potentially. We've been pretty open with that, that anyone in the squad's ready to play and the bowling line-up might change at different times," said Cummins who has played in three of his team's five games so far.

"It's got to be adaptable. We feel like we've got all bases covered. So yeah, we'll rock up there. And I mean, the best thing of all this is I'm not captain or selector or anything, so I just turn up and have no worries."

The Aussies have not been afraid of chopping and changing according to the demands of the conditions in this World Cup. They played just one frontline fast bowler in the first-round win over Scotland with Adam Zampa, Glenn Maxwell and Ashton Agar providing spin options.

In the victory over England, Cummins, Starc, and Hazlewood all played just as they did against Bangladesh.

Starc sat out the match against Namibia with Cummins and Hazlewood getting the nod.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan will definitely be confident with the likes of Rashid, Noor Ahmad, and Mohammad Nabi providing them one of the most envious spin arsenal, but it is their batters who will need to crank it up a notch if they are to stun the 2021 T20 World Champions.

Afghanistan were bundled out for 114 and 134 in their big-margin losses to co-hosts West Indies and India in their previous two matches, respectively. Avoiding such batting mishaps will be key if Afghanistan are to put up a fight against the mighty Aussies.