The match played between Afghanistan and Australia in Lahore was washed out due to rain and the match remained inconclusive. The Australian team benefited from the match not being replayed and has made it to the semi-finals. Afghanistan's hopes have faded, but its journey is not officially over yet. Afghanistan's eyes will now be on the match between South Africa and England on Saturday. South Africa's defeat can open the doors for Afghanistan. After India and New Zealand, Australia was the third team to reach the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy.

Australia reached the semi-finals by winning one out of three matches.

Australia defeated England in its first match. After this, its second match against South Africa was washed out due to rain and now the match against Afghanistan could not be completed. Australia thus won one out of three matches in the group stage and secured a place in the semi-finals with four points. South Africa and Afghanistan now have three points each and both these teams are in second and third place respectively in the table. If South Africa manages to register a win against England, then it will reach the semi-finals by topping Group B with five points.

Afghanistan's net run rate can become a problem.
If South Africa faces a big defeat against England and its net run rate is less than Afghanistan, then Afghanistan can move ahead. However, South Africa's net run rate is much better than Afghanistan and only a miracle can now get Afghanistan a ticket to the semi-finals.

Afghanistan hopes for a miracle.
Afghanistan's eyes will now be on the match between South Africa and England on Saturday. South Africa's defeat can open the doors for Afghanistan. In this match, if England bats first, then South Africa will have to be defeated by at least 207 runs. On the other hand, if the team led by Jos Buttler bats in the second innings, then they will have to achieve the target within 11.1 overs.

What happened in the match?

Earlier, Afghanistan gave a target of 274 runs to Australia for victory. Australia had scored 109 runs for one wicket in 12.5 overs till the match was stopped. For Australia, Travis Head was present at the crease with 59 runs off 40 balls with the help of nine fours and one six, and captain Steve Smith with 19 runs. While chasing the target, the Kangaroo team lost the wicket of Matthew Short who was out after scoring 20 runs off 15 balls with the help of three fours and one six. Australia had to score 165 more runs to win, but despite the rain stopping, the match could not be restarted because the ground was very wet.

PC Social media