Afghanistan’s hopes for revenge against Australia in a 50-over ICC event were spoiled by rain after 12.5 overs of Australia’s innings. The match was abandoned, securing Australia’s place in the semifinals alongside India and New Zealand. Afghanistan’s chances of progressing are now very slim, needing a highly improbable outcome in the match between South Africa and England to stay in contention.
Before the rain delay, Travis Head had put Afghanistan under pressure with a rapid half-century. He and Matthew Short started aggressively, taking advantage of Fazalhaq Farooqi’s initial struggles with swing, conceding 18 runs in the first over. Azmatullah Omarzai’s over went for 14, and another 10 runs came from Farooqi’s subsequent over, pushing Australia to 42-0 in just 4 overs while chasing Afghanistan’s total of 273. Similar to their previous encounter in the 2023 ODI World Cup, Afghanistan made fielding errors, dropping both openers early in the innings.
Short was dropped again in the same over, but Gulbadin Naib managed to catch him at mid-on. Steve Smith then came in and quickly hit two fours, bringing the team’s score to 50 in just 5 overs, putting Australia ahead. Afghanistan continued to suffer from dropping Head, as he punished Omarzai with three consecutive fours in the ninth over. Australia reached 90-1 in 10 overs, the highest PowerPlay score in the tournament so far.
Afghanistan’s strategy of bowling short deliveries also backfired, conceding 48 runs off 21 such balls. Shortly after Australia passed 100 runs, rain arrived, stopping the game. After waiting for over an hour, umpires assessed the conditions as a single super-sopper tried to dry the waterlogged outfield. Eventually, it was decided that no further play was possible. As Australia’s innings hadn’t reached 20 overs (109-1 in 12.5 overs), the DLS method couldn’t be applied, leading to the match being abandoned.
Prior to this disappointing end, Afghanistan had displayed the same fighting spirit that helped them defeat England just two nights prior, keeping their semifinal hopes alive. Throughout their batting innings against Australia, they demonstrated their ability to compete with stronger teams and recover from difficult situations.
Sediqullah Atal, Afghanistan’s top scorer with 85 runs off 95 balls, led the first 10 overs alongside Ibrahim Zadran. However, Australia fought back with spin in the middle overs. Afghanistan lost Zadran and Rahmat Shah, losing momentum between overs 11 and 20. Atal and Hashmatullah Shahidi then rebuilt the innings in the following 10 overs. Atal’s dismissal in the 32nd over caused another setback, and Afghanistan fell to 199-7 in the 40th over. Azmatullah Omarzai once again played a crucial role, scoring 67 runs off 63 balls to help the team reach 273. Afghanistan’s captain, Hashmatullah Shahidi, had hoped the pitch would slow down in the second innings, favoring their spinners, but the rain prevented the game from progressing that far.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan 273 in 50 overs (Sediqullah Atal 85, Azmatullah Omarzai 67; Ben Dwarshuis 3-47, Adam Zampa 2-48, Spencer Johnson 2-49) vs Australia 109/1 in 12.5 overs (Travis Head 59*). Match Abandoned due to rain.
