Australia qualify for semi-finals after rain truncates chase against Afghanistan in Lahore
After Afghanistan's stunning win over England to knock them out, Australia have snatched one of the Group B qualification spots for the Champions Trophy 2025 semi-finals.
Australia have qualified for the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 after a rain-truncated clash against Afghanistan.
The weather intervened to stop play while Australia were on 109/1 in the 13th over in their run chase, with Travis Head leading the charge, not out on 59 off 40 deliveries, and Steve Smith alongside him on 19.
The match was ultimately abandoned, meaning that Australia progress to the semi-finals.
Rashid Khan had a great chance to remove Head on 6, moving his feet brilliantly yet failing to close his fingers round the ball.
But it was Matt Short who was first to go, edging to Gulbadin Naib off Azmatullah Omarzai for 20.
Travis Head's quick-fire half-century | AFG v AUS | Champions Trophy 2025
Earlier, Sediqullah Atal was Afghanistan's top scorer as they reached 273 all out, making 85 before being caught by Smith from the bowling of Spencer Johnson.
Johnson had taken the early wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the first over, leaving Afghanistan on 3/1.
But Ibrahim Zadran and Sediqullah weathered the storm.
Spencer Johnson strikes early to remove Rahmanullah Gurbaz | AFG v AUS | Champions Trophy 2025
Zadran went for 22, caught by Marnus Labuschagne from the bowling of Adam Zampa, followed by Rahmat Shah, caught behind by Josh Inglis off the bowling of Glenn Maxwell.
That put Afghanistan on 91/3 - but a solid half-century from Sediqullah, joined at the crease by captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, looked as if it would set them up nicely for the second half of their innings.
But the skipper reached only 20 from 49 balls and was dismissed by Zampa courtesy of another Labuschagne catch.
After that, the tail began to wobble, with Mohammad Nabi run out for a single, and Gulbadin caught for four.
But Azmat and Rashid put up some resilience for the eighth wicket - scoring 36 off 33 balls.
Gulbadin gets lucky once but not twice | AFG v AUS | Champions Trophy 2025
Rashid made a delightful cameo of 19 before he was caught by Maxwell from Ben Dwarshuis's bowling, but Omarzai continued at the crease, making a deserved 67 and impressing with some big hitting before Alex Carey held on to a shot off Dwarshius.
Noor Ahmad was the last man to fall, caught behind on the last ball of the innings.
Afghanistan also benefited from some surprisingly lax work in the Australia attack and field, with 37 extras conceded.
Azmatullah Omarzai hits a huge 103m six | AFG v AUS | Champions Trophy 2025
Earlier, Shahidi won the toss and elected to bat first.
After Australia got their tournament off to a flying start by chasing down the highest-ever score at an ICC event against England, rain played spoilsport in their next, forcing them to share points with South Africa, who both are now on three points each and occupying the top two spots in Group B.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, lost their opening game to South Africa by 107 runs but came back in stunning fashion to complete an incredible triumph against England to knock them out of contention for a semi-final spot.
The two teams go head-to-head today to try and grab a last-four spot in a winner takes it all contest in Lahore.
All On The Line Preview | AFG v AUS | Champions Trophy 2025
Teams:
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Australia: Matthew Short, Travis Head, Steve Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson.