Australia have qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy from Group B. South Africa are the other team likely to advance.
Afghanistan scripted a stunning eight-run win over England to knock them out of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy on Wednesday. But only a couple of days after that, on Friday, their last group stage match against Australia was abandoned due to rain in Lahore. As a result, Australia qualified for the semi-finals with four points from three games (One win, two no results), and it’s now a battle between South Africa (second place, three points) and Afghanistan (third place, four points) to make the last four stage.
India and New Zealand have qualified for the Champions Trophy semi-finals from Group A, whereas Australia have done so from Group B. One more team from Group B will qualify for the semi-finals and it will either be South Africa or Afghanistan.
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A loss for Afghanistan would have knocked them out of the Champions Trophy. But they are still in the competition with a very less possibility of making the knockout stages. While both South Africa and Afghanistan have three points, the Proteas are second due to their superior NRR (+2.140) than compared to Afghanistan (-0.990).
India and New Zealand will lock horns in their final group stage game to determine the final standings in Group A, but even that won’t matter. Why? Because India will play the first semi-final in Dubai on March 4 and will qualify as A1 side even if they finish second. This means they will get to face the team that finishes second in Group B.
A win for South Africa against England on Saturday will see the Proteas qualify for the semi-finals as group winners with five points. Australia will finish in second place with four points, and as a result, India will face Australia in the semi-finals.
Afghanistan can only qualify for the semi-finals if England beat South Africa by a big margin. For example, if South Africa are chasing a target of 301, the Proteas have to lose by 207 runs, which seems like an impossible scenario. It’s safe to say that Afghanistan’s hopes of making the last four has very well diminished.
Should England beat South Africa on Saturday, then India will instead face the Proteas, who will remain in second place. Australia will take on their Trans-Tasman rivals in the other semi-final.
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