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Rain threatens high-stakes Afghanistan-Australia clash
Much like Afghanistan’s match against England, the political spectre over this clash is hard to put aside. Matches are rare between the countries with Australia – like England – taking a human rights stance and pledging to suspend bilateral ties while the Taliban remain in power.
Cricket Australia publicly demonstrated its commitment to the cause last month by hosting a T20 match featuring an Afghanistan women’s XI in Melbourne, bringing the issue firmly back into the spotlight.
But underlining the complexities of the issue, Australia do play Afghanistan at ICC events – which has led to some criticism – and this intriguing, budding rivalry will resume in Lahore with much at stake.
Given the tournament’s sharp format, it’s basically sudden death, a virtual quarter-final, after Afghanistan once again knocked out England from an ICC event.
But Afghanistan will be eliminated with a loss, while Australia also must win, with a defeat meaning they will have to rely on South Africa being absolutely pummelled by a beleaguered England with nothing to play for. A washout will see Australia through to the semi-final.
Australia and Afghanistan once again find themselves pitted in a high-stakes contest at an ICC event. At the 2022 T20 World Cup, Australia emerged with a slim six run victory in Adelaide that was ultimately not the net-run-rate boost needed as they crashed out early on home soil.
Glenn Maxwell, of course, changed the course of the 2023 World Cup with a remarkable double century that still beggars belief. But Afghanistan had some measure of revenge at last year’s T20 World Cup as they overcame a brief Maxwell onslaught with a 21 run victory that memorably sealed their place in the semi-finals.
And, once again, a semi-final spot is up for grabs. The form line is a little hard to read with both teams having tight wins over a wheezing England. Afghanistan bounced back strongly after a disastrous opening against South Africa while Australia’s momentum came to a halt after their clash against the Proteas was washed out.
Even though they are considerably weakened – against England they fielded their least experienced attack at an ICC ODI event since 1983 – Australia mustered up their big-game pedigree under pressure to make a statement. Their batting line-up still contains plenty of firepower with centurion Josh Inglis emerging as a genuine star batter across formats. It is little wonder that some believe he’s Australia’s next captain.
A back against the wall triumph is in play, but Australia will have to firstly get past rising Afghanistan in a game that feels evenly poised. Afghanistan will lean on their spin-heavy attack, but Australia do have numerous players adept against the turning ball – led by Inglis.
Australia’s depleted pace stocks makes that department more equally matched than previous encounters, while an in-form Ibrahim Zadran – coming off a Champions Trophy-best score of 177 – ensures he can go toe-to-toe with his counterparts.
The prospect of more bad weather in Lahore could also play a factor in a clash that is set to be just as compelling as the recent matches between these teams.
There isn’t much cricket history between the countries, but Glenn Maxwell is probably the first name that springs to mind with this match-up. In the last ODI between the teams, a hobbled Maxwell produced one of the greatest ever innings to rescue Australia from the brink at the 2023 World Cup and crush the hearts of Afghanistan. Maxwell enters this match in great form having put the finishing touches against England after a brilliant end to the BBL season. It will be interesting to see if his presence at the crease spooks Afghanistan, who are adamant they haven’t devoted too much of their plans on him.
While Afghanistan’s slew of quality spinners deservedly attracts plenty of attention, seam bowling allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai stole the show against England with his maiden five-wicket haul of his professional career. He was particularly superb at the death with three wickets when the game was on a knife’s edge. Omarzai’s emergence has helped Afghanistan better balance their attack and they are no longer merely reliant on their spinners for success. He’ll need to back up that performance against a formidable Australia batting-order and his canny, skiddy bowling will need to be on point against big-hitting openers Travis Head and Matthew Short. If he can strike early breakthroughs then Afghanistan will be right in the hunt.
Due to the inclement conditions, team lists weren’t even announced for the Australia-South Africa clash. It makes predicting Australia’s line-up somewhat difficult. The team is mostly settled, but they might be tempted to tweak their bowling attack that leaked 351 runs against England. Left-arm quick Spencer Johnson might be in the selection gun after he was overlooked for the death overs against England. But his pace and bounce could be a weapon against Afghanistan’s top order. Australia, who trained indoors on match eve, will also consider bowling allrounder Sean Abbott, who offers a point of difference and strengthens the batting, and legspinner Tanveer Sangha given Marnus Labuschagne’s part-time legspin played a role against England.
After such a momentous victory, Afghanistan are likely to go unchanged for the third straight game and back their spin strength in subcontinental conditions. The trio of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad will present considerable challenges for the Australians.
Australia (possible): Matthew Short, Travis Head, Steven Smith (capt), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Sean Abbott/Spencer Johnson, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa
Afghanistan (possible): Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi
[Cricinfo]
An unprecedented wave of AI-generated misinformation about the US-Israel war with Iran is being monetized by online creators with growing access to generative AI technology, experts have told BBC Verify.
Our analysis has found numerous examples of AI-generated videos and fabricated satellite imagery being used to make false and misleading claims about the conflict which have collectively amassed hundreds of millions of views online.
“The scale is truly alarming and this war has made it impossible to ignore now,” says Timothy Graham, a digital media expert at the Queensland University of Technology.
“What used to require professional video production can now be done in minutes with AI tools. The barrier to creating convincing synthetic conflict footage has essentially collapsed,” he says.
The US and Israel began launching strikes on Iran on 28 February. In response, Iran has launched drone and missile attacks on Israel, as well as multiple Gulf nations and US military assets in the region.
Many have turned to social media to search for and share the latest information and to help make sense of a fast-moving week of conflict.
The platform X announced this week it will temporarily suspend creators from its monetization programme if they post AI-generated videos of armed conflict without a label.
The scheme rewards eligible users whose posts create large numbers of views, likes, shares and comments with payments from the platform.
“It’s a notable signal that they’ve noticed that this is a big problem,” says Mahsa Alimardani, a researcher specialising in Iran at the Oxford Internet Institute.
We asked TikTok and Meta, the company of Facebook and Instagram, if they intend to take similar action, but they did not respond to our requests for comment.
A typical example of an AI-generated video that BBC Verify has tracked appears to show missiles striking the city of Tel Aviv in Israel as the sound of explosions rings out in the background.
This video has been featured in more than 300 posts which have then been shared tens of thousands of times across social media platforms.
Some X users turned to the platform’s AI chatbot Grok to confirm the video’s veracity. But in many cases seen by BBC Verify, Grok wrongly insisted that the AI-generated video was real.
Another fake video, viewed tens of millions of times, claims to show Dubai’s Burj Khalifa skyscraper in flames, while a crowd of people seem to be running towards the building.
This AI-generated footage spread widely online at a time of considerable concern from residents and tourists about the drone and missile strikes on the city.
“Fake videos like these have a detrimental impact on people’s trust in the verified information they see online and make it much harder to document real evidence,” says Alimardani.
A new feature of this conflict analysed by BBC Verify is the emergence of AI-generated satellite imagery.
We verified multiple real videos showing Iranian drone and missile strikes on the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain on the first day of the conflict.
A fabricated photo, shared on X by the state-linked newspaper The Tehran Times, began to spread the following day and claimed to show extensive damage to the base.
The fake appears to be based on real satellite imagery of a US naval base in Bahrain taken in February 2025, which is publicly available online.
According to Google’s SynthID watermark detector, the fake image was generated or edited with a Google AI tool.
Three vehicles parked outside are also in the exact same spot in both the genuine satellite imagery and the AI picture – despite the photos allegedly having been taken a year apart.
Google’s AI tools, including its video generator Veo, are on the growing list of popular AI platforms, like OpenAI’s Sora model, Chinese AI app Seedance, and Grok which is built into X.
“The number of different tools that are now available to create a wide range of highly realistic AI manipulations is unprecedented,” says Henry Ajder, a generative AI expert.
“We have never seen these tools so available, so easy and so cheap to use,” he says.
This has led to a surge of AI-generated content online “because the pipeline onto social media can now be almost fully automated,” says Victoire Rio, executive director of the technology policy non-profit What To Fix.
X’s head of product said on Tuesday that “99%” of the accounts spreading AI-generated videos like these were trying to “game monetization” by posting content that will generate large amounts of engagement in return for payment through the app’s Creator Revenue Sharing programme.
The platform does not publish how many accounts are part of the programme, or how much money they can make.
But Graham estimates that X could pay about “eight to 12 dollars per million verified user impressions”.
“Creators have to hit five million organic impressions in three months, plus hold an X premium subscription, to be eligible,” he added.
“Once you’re in, viral AI-generated content is basically a money printer,” he says. “They’ve built the ultimate misinformation enterprise.”
X did not respond to our request for comment or our questions about the Creator Revenue Sharing programme.
Experts have told BBC Verify that while many social media companies say they are trying to change their moderation and detection systems to address the scale and speed at which AI-generated content spreads, there is no simple solution to the problem.
“The deeper issue is that engagement-driven monetisation and accurate information are fundamentally in tension, and no platform has fully resolved that tension or perhaps ever will,” says Graham.
[BBC]
Explosions have rocked one of Teheran’s main commercial airports, with eyewitnesses reporting a burning plane and large plumes of smoke at the Mehrabad airport – Iran’s busiest airport and main domestic hub – in footage shared on social media. Satellite imagery taken on Friday shows multiple aircraft were at the airport.
Israel earlier said it was launching a new wave of strikes on Iran
[BBC]
Retiring skipper Alyssa Healy fell cheaply late on a bowler-dominated opening day that saw debutants Lucy Hamilton and Sayali Satghare produce spectacular starts to their Test careers.
Thirteen wickets fell on a grassy WACA surface, including Healy who on 13 hit Satghare straight to backward point with 30 minutes left before stumps. Healy trudged off the field – perhaps not for the final time – to a loud ovation as India, fielding four debutants, hit back after being bowled out in 62.4 overs.
Annabel Sutherland, backing up her earlier standout bowling effort, steadied before the close alongside Elllyse Perry, who is playing as a specialist batter after recovering from a quad strain.
After Healy elected to bowl to kick-start her swansong, left-arm quick Hamilton ignited Australia by clean bowling Smriti Mandhana for 4 in a brilliant start to her Test career.
She also claimed the wickets of Jemimah Rodrigues, who top-scored with 52, and Sneh Rana to finish with 3 for 31 off 11 overs in an impressive first up effort after earning selection over uncapped Maitlan Brown.
Australia’s seamers relished the conditions as they swung the pink ball menacingly to cause nightmares for an India side returning to Test cricket for the first time since mid-2024.
Sutherland was unplayable for long stretches as she hooped the ball around to finish with 4 for 46 off 17 overs, figures that could have been even better if not for four dropped catches off her bowling.
Australia’s sloppy performance in the field prolonged India’s first innings and meant they had the tough task of fronting up to bat under lights. Satghare lifted India by knocking over Georgia Voll with a menacing delivery that pitched well outside off-stump before swinging back to hit leg stump.
Fellow debutant Kranti Gaud also had a first wicket to remember when she dismissed Phoebe Litchfield, largely thanks to a brilliant catch from Rodrigues at backward point.
It led to Healy walking out to a mighty ovation, but India weren’t in a generous mood as they clawed back into a contest they must win if they are to draw the multi-series format.
Healy’s day had started brightly when the coin fell in Australia’s favour for the first time in the multi-format series. Her decision to bowl caused a groan in the terraces with fans itching to watch her bat.
But the supporters were soon in full voice when Hamilton, 19, was introduced into the attack in the second over. She came close to a wicket on her fourth delivery but a reviewed lbw shout on opener Shafali Verma was unsuccessful due to an inside edge.
Hamilton only had to wait until her third over to get through Mandhana with a cracking full-pitched delivery that comprehensively beat the bat and smashed into middle stump.
She was mobbed by her teammates before bowling a fierce short delivery to fellow debutant Pratika Rawal, who streakily opened her account through the slip cordon.
Hamilton, who earlier received her baggy green from Beth Mooney, returned the impressive figures of 1 for 12 from five overs in her first spell. But India hung tough with Shafali – maturely resisting her attacking instincts – and Rawal combining well in a rearguard to get through the new ball.
Sutherland entered the attack and started a fabulous bowling performance by cutting short Shafali’s blossoming knock on 35 with a terrific delivery that was caught behind.
It was a reward for Sutherland who had earlier been desperately unlucky not to pick up the wicket of Rawal after Hamilton fumbled in the gully. In what proved to be a costly missed chance, Rodrigues was reprieved by Voll at short-leg on 0 when she fended a fierce short delivery from Sutherland.
But Sutherland was not to be denied after she enticed Rawal into edging to gully where Hamilton hung onto her first catch at Test level. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur started swiftly before her off-stump was knocked by a pearler from Darcie Brown as India entered the tea break in trouble at 99 for 4.
Sutherland continued to be irrepressible after the resumption and dismissed Deepti Sharma with a length ball as the pressure heightened on Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh, who was purely in survival mode early in her innings.
Local hero Alana King was held back until the 40th over and Rogrigues decided it was time to put the foot down, counterattacking to devastating effect with four consecutive boundaries.
She sped to her half-century off 74 balls with the milestone reached in fitting style with a gorgeous drive as she continued to take a liking to King’s legspin.
Just when the partnership started to gather momentum, Ghosh threw it away when she hit a dragged down delivery from Ashleigh Gardner straight to short midwicket before Rodrigues tamely flicked a loose delivery from Hamilton to square leg.
Hamilton bagged Rana as India spiraled to 157 for 8 before debutant Kashvee Gautam attacked just like she had done during the ODI series. She eventually ran out of support with Sutherland claiming her fourth wicket when she dismissed Satghare.
The hectic day’s play also launched a new era at the revamped WACA ground with most spectators nestled in the rare shaded areas – still an issue even after the redevelopment – as the temperature peaked at 37 degree Celsius with a similar forecast set for day two.
Brief scores: [Stumps Day 1]
Australia Women 96 for 3 in 27 overs (Ellyse Perry 43*, Annabel Sutherland 20*; Kranti Gaud 2-28) trail India Women 198 in 62.4 overs (Shafali Verma 35, Jemmimah Rodrigues 52, Kasnvee Gautam 34*; Darcie Brown 2-41, Annabel Sutherland 4-46, Lucy Hamilton 3-31) by 102 runs
[Cricinfo]
The final voyage of the Iranian warship sunk by the US
AI-generated Iran war videos surge as creators use new tech to cash in
Huge explosions rock major Tehran airport as Israel strikes ‘regime infrastructure’
India hit back but Sutherland, Hamilton impress to give Australia the edge
Heat Index at ‘Caution Level’ in the Sabaragamuwa province and, Colombo, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Vavuniya, Hambanthota and Monaragala districts
Dry weather will prevail over the island.
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