New Delhi. Australia has entered the Champions Trophy semi-finals. The match against Afghanistan was washed out due to rain. Both teams got one point each from this cancelled match. The Australian team has become the first team to reach the semi-finals from Group B with 4 points.
Afghanistan also has 3 points and its hopes of reaching the semi-finals are still intact. However, it will have to depend on the results of the South Africa vs England match. If the England team defeats South Africa by a big margin, then South Africa’s net run rate will fall. In this situation, Afghanistan’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals will increase
Afghanistan and Australia teams were face to face in Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. In this match, Afghanistan batted first and scored 273 runs. In reply, when Australia had scored 109 runs for the loss of 1 wicket, then it started raining. Due to continuous rain, the game could not be resumed and the match was cancelled. Australia got 4 points in 3 matches and entered the semi-finals. Travis Head returned unbeaten after scoring 59 runs while captain Steve Smith played an unbeaten innings of 19 runs. Opener Matthew Short returned to the pavilion after scoring 20 runs. Australia had scored these runs in 12.5 overs.
In Group B, Afghanistan and South Africa have equal 3-3 points but according to net run rate, South Africa’s…
He hit five sixes and a four in his innings of 100 balls. He hit two sixes off Nathan Ellis in the 49th over, including a 102 meter six over midwicket. After this, he hit a six over long off. This gave a good score to the Afghanistan team with star spin attack.
Umarzai fell prey to Ben Dwarshuis in the last over who also dismissed Noor Ahmed on the last ball to take three wickets for 47 runs in nine overs. The world champion also gave away 37 extra runs which included 17 wide balls. Batting first, Afghanistan team had a bad start and Spenson Johnson sent Rahmanullah Gurbaz to the pavilion without opening the account.
Ibrahim Zadran, who scored 177 runs in the last match against England, was dismissed by Adam Zampa for 22 runs off 28 balls.
After this, Atal took charge of the innings and played some excellent cover drives and flicks. He got a reliable partner in the form of captain Hasmatullah Shahidi and both of them made a partnership of 68 runs. Atal completed his second half-century in ODI by hitting a six to Maxwell.
After this, Jampa hit two more sixes but missed his first century by 15 runs. He got caught by Steve Smith at short cover on Johnson’s ball. At this time Afghanistan’s score was 159 runs for four wickets. After this Shahidi (20 runs in 49 balls) also got out early. At the time of Rashid Khan’s dismissal, the score was 235 runs for eight wickets. Umarzai once again performed brilliantly and played an aggressive innings in the last overs. Umarzai, who scored 41 runs along with taking five wickets against England,
He proved why he was chosen as the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year. He completed his half-century in 54 balls and became the joint third Afghan batsman to complete 1000 runs fastest. He reached this figure in 31 innings while Zadran completed 1000 ODI runs in 24, Gurbaz in 27 and Shah also completed 1000 ODI runs in 31 innings.
