Australia has advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy after their final group match against Afghanistan was abandoned due to rain, leaving the pitch unplayable. Following a thrilling record chase of 352 runs in their opening match against England, Australia finished the group stage with four points, while rain washed out their last two matches in Rawalpindi and Lahore.
Afghanistan, with only three points, faced elimination unless South Africa lost by an extraordinary margin of over 200 runs to England in a game scheduled for Saturday. In the match against Australia, Afghanistan was restricted to 273 runs and seemed to be bowled out at the last moment, only for the heavy rain to arrive while Australia was comfortably positioned at 1-109 in the 13th over.
Australia’s captain Steve Smith expressed satisfaction, noting, “The first objective was obviously to get to the semi-finals, and we are there now.” He highlighted the team’s effective bowling that contained Afghanistan’s scoring. Travis Head made a rapid half-century, scoring 50 runs off just 34 balls, capitalising on Afghanistan’s subpar fielding and bowling to lead Australia’s attack.
Throughout the innings, Afghanistan struggled, with key players like Rashid Khan unable to take straightforward catches, impacting their performance. Despite his earlier achievements, bowler Azmatullah Omarzai conceded 43 runs off his five overs, an unusual outing following his earlier five-wicket haul against England. Meanwhile, Sediqullah Atal narrowly missed a century with his 85 runs, but the rest of his team could not maintain momentum, leading to multiple dismissals.
Spencer Johnson and Ben Dwarshuis, despite starting inconsistently with the new ball, regained control later, with Johnson taking a crucial wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz early in the innings. Afghanistan’s captain Hashmatullah Shahidi pointed out the need for improvement, stating, “We should have scored 300 plus, but they bowled really well, especially in the middle overs.” He acknowledged that the team did not start well with the ball and reflected hope for lessons learned from the match.
Thus, while Australia progresses to the knockout stage, Afghanistan must reassess its strategies to bounce back in future competitions.