Champions Trophy: Labuschagne keen to silence Afghanistan fans

Australia and Afghanistan head into Friday's clash in Lahore knowing a win would be enough to guarantee their spot in the semi-finals.

After beating England but seeing their second game against South Africa rained off, Australia are second in Group B.

Afghanistan are third, but their net run rate of -0.990 trails Australia's +0.475.

Labuschagne is expecting a hostile atmosphere, but hopes Australia's quality will come to the fore.

"We'd love to win tomorrow and silence the crowd," Labuschagne said.

"But for us it's all about making sure we stick to our process and really engage in the game.

"We must be ready to play and whatever gets thrown at us – doesn't matter what the situation is – that we come out and perform at our best."

Rain is forecast in Lahore early on Friday, and with their superior net run rate, Australia would benefit if the match is called off.

Labuschagne, though, would not want to win that way.

"I think as players you always want to play," he said.

"Obviously if the whole match rains out I think that means that we go through to the semi-finals – but obviously we'd love to be able to win the game tomorrow and finish top in the pool.

"I think that's something that we want to aim to do and make sure we've won all our matches leading up to the semi-finals. But those things are out of our control, so I will have to make sure we're ready to go tomorrow if it is a shortened fixture."

The happy faces show how much that win meant to them #AFGvENG #ChampionsTrophy : https://t.co/6IQekpiWp0 pic.twitter.com/oQoqPsoY5S

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Australia have won all four of their previous ODIs against Afghanistan, including a three-wicket win in their most recent such encounter in November 2023.

Afghanistan, though, have won four of their last five ODIs.

They beat England by eight runs on Wednesday, with Ibrahim Zadran plundering 177, the highest individual score in Champions Trophy history.

"Australia aren't going to take us lightly," said Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott.

"So, we've got to be prepared. In the past, perhaps people would have seen the fixture and thought it was a little bit easier than playing a historic Test nation. But in this format, in these conditions, I don't see that.

"Since I've been coach we've played against Australia three times and we've been in the game each of those games. So, we should take a lot of confidence from that. And I think certainly what happened in the World Cup, T20 World Cup, and I say this to the players as well, that Afghanistan's never going to be taken lightly ever again.