GUWAHATI, March 1: Afghanistan, though still with a slim chance of progressing to the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, saw their hopes of a direct finish in the last-four of the tournament go up in flames after their match against Australia ended without a result and both teams were forced to share a point each.
Chasing 274 for victory, Australia were 109/1 in just 12.5 overs when rain stopped play. Travis Head was in blistering form, and was unbeaten on 59 while skipper Smith was batting on 19 as the Aussies looked to continue the onslaught before rain came pouring.
Earlier in the day, Afghanistan, batting first, posted a decent and a challenging target, thanks to Sediqullah Atal’s 95-ball 85 and Azmatullah Omarzai’s 63-ball 67 as the entire team folded for 273 runs in 50 overs.
Afghanistan had on Wednesday (Feb 26) scripted the biggest upset of the tournament by beating England by 8 runs at Lahore, and setting the stage for a possible place in the semi-finals before rains played spoilsport.
The only way the Afghans could make it to the semi-finals is in the event of England, who crashed out after losing both their opening two matches at the hands of Australia and Afghanistan, beating South Africa by a huge margin: by at least 207 runs if they bat first or chase down South Africa’s target within 11.1 overs. Both would require a huge performance from the Englishman.
