Rain dashes Afghanistan's Champions Trophy semi-final dreams, Australia advance
Mail This Article
Lahore: Afghanistan's hopes of reaching the Champions Trophy 2025 semifinals were washed out on Friday after their Group B match against Australia was abandoned due to rain. The teams shared a point each in the group where Australia advanced to the semi-final with four points. Meanwhile, Afghanistan needs England to defeat South Africa by a huge margin to get to the semifinals.
Batting first, Afghanistan put up a total of 273 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium, helped by the innings of Seqiqullah Atal and Azmatullah Omarzai. The score never looked competitive enough for the Australian batsmen who quick-fired their team to 109/1 in just 12.5 overs before the rain disrupted the play.
Travis Head struck Afghan bowlers relentlessly, scoring 59 runs accompanied by nine fours and a six. His opening pair, Matthew Short's innings, was cut 'short' when Gulbadin Naib caught him after scoring 20 runs. Captain Steve Smith ensured that the run rate stayed at more than eight before the rain washed out the game.
Earlier, Australian bowlers never allowed Afghanistan batsmen to settle, breaking their partnerships at required intervals. Opening batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz was dismissed for a duck by Spencer Johnson, inflicting an early blow for Afghanistan. Containing the damage, Ibrahim Zardan and Atal added 67 runs in the second wicket partnership, bringing their team back to the game. Zadran was dismissed off Adam Zampa's delivery, caught by Marnus Labuschagne.
Rahmat Shah added 12 runs to the scoreboard before being dismissed by Glen Maxwell. Atal continued his fight with the help of captain Hasmatullah Shahidi, building a partnership of 68 runs. However, Johnson struck again to dismiss Atal, with Smith taking the catch. Shahidi couldn't continue the momentum and was dismissed for 20 runs, with Afghanistan struggling at 182/6.
Omarzai took charge and carried Afghanistan past 250 runs to a respectable total. He scored 67 runs, firing five sixes, before Ben Dwarshius claimed his wicket. He didn't get any support from the Afghanistan tail end, barring Rashid Khan, who scored 19 runs from 17 balls.
Dwarshuis was the pick of Australian bowlers with three wickets, while Johnson and Zampa took two wickets each.
With the match abandoned, Afghanistan's chances of appearing in the semi-finals are also grim. Currently standing in third with three points, second placed South Africa, who also have the same points, is better positioned to qualify for the semi-finals with a better run rate. Afghanistan can qualify in an unlikely scenario where England beats South Africa by at least 207 runs or chases down the total in 11 overs.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan 273 all out in 50 overs (Seqiqullah Atal 85, Azmatullah Omarzai 67; Ben Dwarshius 3/47, Spencer Johnson 2/49, Adam ZZampa 2/48) vs Australia 109/1 (Travis Head 59 not out, Matthew Short 20; Azmatullah Omarzai 1/43)