Australia has qualified for the semifinals of the Champions Trophy after their Group B match against Afghanistan in Lahore was called off due to rain on Friday. The game was interrupted by heavy rain when Australia was at 109 for 1 in 12.5 overs, chasing a target of 274. Despite efforts to dry the field, standing water on the pitch led umpires to abandon the match after an inspection, occurring just an hour before the match cut-off time.
The washout awarded Australia a point, pushing them into the semifinals with a total of four points. Their previous game against South Africa in Rawalpindi was also abandoned.
During the brief play, Travis Head was impressive, scoring 59 runs from 40 balls, including nine boundaries and a six.
Head’s innings was fortunate as he was dropped early in his innings at six runs by Rashid Khan off Fazalhaq Farooqi.
He capitalized on this chance, aggressively attacking the Afghan bowling, particularly scoring 28 runs off 17 balls from Farooqi.
Captain Steve Smith was playing cautiously at the other end, with 19 not out from 22 balls, including two fours.
With this no-result, Afghanistan’s chances for semifinal qualification are very low and now depend on the outcome of the match between South Africa and England on Saturday.
For South Africa to top the group with five points, they need to win their upcoming match.
If England wins, both South Africa and Afghanistan will have three points, and qualification will be decided by net run-rate (NRR).
Afghanistan’s current NRR of -0.99 makes it highly unlikely for them to qualify unless South Africa suffers a massive defeat by over 200 runs.
Earlier in the day, Afghanistan batted first and scored a competitive 273 runs, thanks to a solid 85 from Sediqullah Atal and a quickfire 67 from Azmatullah Omarzai.
Atal anchored the innings after an unstable start, while Omarzai’s aggressive hitting at the end pushed Afghanistan past 270 after they were 235 for 8 following Rashid Khan’s dismissal.
Omarzai’s innings of 67 off 63 balls featured five sixes and one four, including two huge sixes off Nathan Ellis in the penultimate over, one of which traveled 102m over midwicket.
He was eventually dismissed in the final over by Ben Dwarshuis, who also took the wicket of Noor Ahmed on the last ball, finishing with figures of 3/47.
Australia conceded 37 extra runs, including 17 wides.
Choosing to bat first, Afghanistan faced early setbacks as Spencer Johnson dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck and Adam Zampa took the wicket of Ibrahim Zadran.
Atal then took control, initially struggling against Johnson’s bowling, but then finding his rhythm with some well-timed shots.
He formed a partnership with Hashmatullah Shahidi, adding 68 runs together and handling the Australian spinners on a slow pitch.
Atal reached his half-century with a six off Maxwell. He later hit Zampa for two more sixes but was dismissed for 85, caught by Steve Smith off Johnson in the 32nd over.
His dismissal at 159/4 led to a collapse, with Shahidi and Mohammad Nabi getting out soon after.
From 182/6, Afghanistan struggled to regain momentum and were at 235/8 after Rashid’s dismissal, looking at a modest score.
Omarzai then took charge, playing confidently and scoring his eighth ODI fifty off 54 balls in the 48th over.
He became the joint third-fastest Afghan player to reach 1000 ODI runs, achieving it in 31 innings.
