Australia returns to Champions Trophy semi-finals after 16 years; Match against Afghanistan

Australia won a semi-final place in the ICC Champions Trophy when their Group B encounter against Afghanistan was called off by continuous rain. This means Afghanistan is at the doorsteps of being eliminated, with hopes now relying on the results of the match between England and South Africa.

Promising start cut short

Australia started their pursuit of Afghanistan's score of 273 on a good note, courtesy of a half-century in 34 balls. But the rain took over, making the field undriveable and compelling the game to be abandoned. Earlier, Afghanistan's batting was characterized by two dropped catches in successive overs, but they finally got the better of Matthew Short.

Afghanistan's resilient performance

Afghanistan's score owed much to the aggressive knock by Azmatullah Omarzai of 67 runs from 63 balls. Though they lost their main wickets early in the game, including those of captain Hasmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Nabi, and Gulbadin Naib, Omarzai's batting at least laid out a decent target. Sediqullah Atal also had a big innings with 85 runs, but fell short of a century by a whisker.

Australia's dominance and Afghanistan's hopes

Australia dominated large parts of the innings, picking wickets at regular intervals. Omarzai's aggressive batting ensured that Afghanistan did get to a competitive score. Afghanistan's fate is now in the balance, waiting for South Africa to lose heavily against England to change the net run-rate calculations.