Kumar Bahukhandi
Champions Trophy 2025 – Photo : Afghanistan Cricket/Proteas Men
Afghanistan could have progressed if England had batted first and defeated South Africa by at least 207 runs, but England’s team could not even score 200 runs in total, which completely dashed Afghanistan’s hopes.
Afghanistan’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy on Saturday Match1, 2025 are completely over. The fourth team for the semi-finals has been decided before the match between South Africa and England ends. South Africa bowled out England for 179 runs in the last match of Group B being played in Karachi, due to which Afghanistan was out of the race for the semi-finals. In this way, South Africa became the fourth team to reach the semi-finals.
Semi-finalists decided even before the result
England’s disappointing batting performance continued in the match against South Africa as well and the team could not perform impressively. England’s team, after winning the toss and batting first, was all out in 38.2 overs. This is the lowest total of this Champions Trophy. With the end of the first innings, it was decided that Australia and South Africa reached the semi-finals from Group B. Afghanistan’s match against Australia on Friday was inconclusive due to rain, due to which its hopes were pinned on the match against England. It was not easy for Afghanistan to reach the semi-finals because South Africa could be eliminated only if England defeated it by a big margin.
Afghanistan was hoping for a miracle
England being all out on such a low score means that whatever be the result of this match, South Africa has reached the semi-finals and Afghanistan’s hopes are completely over because now there is not enough margin left to enable Afghanistan’s team to qualify for the semi-finals with a better net run rate. Group B had Afghanistan, South Africa, Australia and England. Two matches of this group were affected by rain, which changed the equation and the race for the semi-finals remained interesting till the end.
Australia had defeated England in its first match. After this, its second match against South Africa was washed away by 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 currently have three points each and both these teams are at the second and third positions respectively in the table. If South Africa manages to register a win against England, then it will top Group B with five points. Memories of ODI World Cup 2023 fresh
South Africa’s big defeat could have opened the doors for Afghanistan. In this match, if England had batted first and defeated South Africa by at least 207 runs, then Afghanistan could have moved forward, but the England team could not score even 200 runs in total, due to which Afghanistan’s hopes were completely over. India, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia made it to the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy. These four teams also made it to the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup 2023.
England’s poor batting
Earlier, England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and decided to bat first, but his start was bad and Marco Jansen gave him three blows. Big partnerships could not be made for England, which caused him the most loss. For England, experienced batsman Joe Root scored the highest 37 runs in 44 balls, while Jofra Archer scored 25, Ben Duckett scored 24, captain Jofra Archer scored 21, Harry Brook scored 19, Jamie Overton scored 11, Liam Livingstone scored 9, Phil Salt scored 8 and Adil Rashid scored 2 runs. At the same time, Shakib Mahmood remained unbeaten after scoring five runs. Apart from Jansen and Mulder, Keshav Maharaj got two wickets, while Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada got one wicket each.
