The Afghanistan National Cricket Team vs Australian Men’s Cricket Team rivalry is a young cricketing rivalry between two contrasting Test playing nations, the experienced and long serving Tier-1 nation Australia and the inexperienced debutant Afghanistan. History Australia and Ireland first met in a T20 match at the 2012 ICC World T20 in the UAE, with Australia emerging on top by 66 runs. It was a defeat for Afghanistan, of course, but also a turning point for the Tier-1 side playing on the world stage.
Though the two countries have met only a handful of times and each has been returned as an overwhelming one-sided contest, every game is also an opportunity to compare Australia’s standing in the history of cricket with Afghanistan’s fearless growth as a cricketing culture. Across World Cups and T20s, all quotas of Afghanistan have seen them manfully playing positive cricket against one of the best sides in the world – in terms of both team and what the sport can be. This, then, is the history of their encounters, source material matches, profile against profile and the outlook for both cricket cultures.
Afghanistan National Cricket Team vs Australian Men’s Cricket Team Timeline: From 2012 to Recent Encounters
- 2012-2013 Afghanistan v Australia ignited the rivalry between Afghan Atalans and the Kangaroos. Their first ODI match was played on August 25, 2012, at Sharjah. Afghanistan’s bowling team was up against experienced professional batsmen, and regardless of the team’s endeavors, they were not able to attain parity in the competition and lost matches by 66 runs. Mitchell Starc’s spearing ragged batting from outside the crease illustrated Australia’s superior skills and batted machinations in the game.
- 2015 ICC World Cup- In the 26th match of the 2015 World Cup, Australia defeated Afghanistan by 275 runs on February 27th, 2015, in Perth! That level of achievement in a game is enough to put it in the record books for the highest tally for World Cup Victories. In very heavy conditions, the Australians were able to bowl at the same speeds as the Afghans had, and David Warner effortlessly clubbed 178. The Afghanistan batting could only manage a pathetic 142 all out in 37.3 overs for the Australians to chase.
- ICC World Cup 2019- Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first. The Afghanistan batting unit put a total of 208 on the board for Australia to chase. The Afghanistan batting innings finished at 208, with Australia chasing to reach 208 for Australia to chase, and they managed to get across the line with their third wicket down, completing their total and winning.
- 2022 ICC T20 World- The first Twenty20 international match was held between Afghanistan and Australia on November 4, 2022. Australia batted first; they scored 168/8, and Afghanistan batted out their 20 overs for 164 to make for a comfortable chase. Naveen-ul-Haq had a great day with the ball, with 3 wickets for 21 runs. To summarise, Australia secured a 168-run win, with Glenn Maxwell not out on 50 off 32 balls, which secured their first T20 victory against Afghanistan.
- 2023 ICC World Cup- In an exciting edge-of-the-seat thriller at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Australia won what was one of the best matches of their World Cup term, against Afghanistan, by three wickets. Afghanistan posted a 291/5 in 50 overs; Ibrahim Zadran, who became the first-ever Afghanistan cricketer to score a century in the World Cup, scored a fine 129 off 143 balls.
- 2024 ICC T20 World Cup- In another memorable match in the T20 World Cup, Afghanistan upset Australia by 21 runs to kick Australia out of the T20 World Cup after Afghanistan only had 118 runs through an excellent opening partnership from Gurbaz and Ibrahim. The match Australia chased a total of 149 and only reached an amenable all-out through superb fielding from Afghanistan.
2025 ICC Champions Trophy- The 10th match between Australia and Afghanistan was in Lahore, with Australia chasing 238 for victory, but rain stopped the match after 12.5 overs of Australia’s innings had been played. Australia advanced to the semi-final stage due to their clear overall run rate.
