- Australia and Afghanistan match was rained out
- Decision came with the Aussies in complete control
- In-form player now in doubt for semifinals
Matt Short looks set to miss Australia’s Champions Trophy semi-final against either India or New Zealand after his injury proved the only downside to their rain-helped rush into the last-four in Pakistan.
Australia are through to the Champions Trophy semi-finals after rain forced the abandonment of their crunch clash with Afghanistan in Lahore.
Sediqullah Atal scored 85 off 95 balls and Azmatullah Omarzai (67 off 63 balls) added some crucial late impetus as Afghanistan recovered from 7-199 to post 273 at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Friday.
In reply, Australia were sitting pretty at 1-109 after 12.5 overs – with a rampant Travis Head (59no off 40 balls) and Steve Smith (19no off 22 balls) in complete control – before heavy rain hit Lahore.
Given Australia hadn’t yet reached the 20-over mark in their innings, both sides had to settle for a share of the spoils in a ‘no-result’.
That was good news for Australia, who are now guaranteed a spot in the semi-finals.
The Champions Trophy match between Australia and Afghanistan was abandoned because of rain that lashed the stadium in Lahore
The Aussies will now play either India or New Zealand in the semifinals of the tournament
However it has came at a cost, with in-form opener Short suffering a quad injury in the field.
He hobbled his way to a brisk 20 off 15 balls in the washout against Afghanistan in Lahore on Friday, captain Steve Smith said he didn’t think the Adelaide Strikers star would be fit to play in next week’s semis.
Smith told Prime after Friday’s match, which Australia had dominated before the downpour: ‘I think he’ll be struggling.
‘I think we saw tonight he wasn’t moving very well. I think it’s probably going to be too quick between games for him to recover.’
Australia will play their semi either against India in Dubai on Tuesday or against New Zealand on Wednesday in Lahore, but they won’t know their opponents until Sunday night.
Smith’s side currently lead group B by a point from South Africa, who can knock them down to second with victory over England in Saturday’s final group match in Karachi.
There’s even an outlandish possibility Afghanistan could still finish second behind Australia and qualify, but only if England hand the Proteas a thrashing that, statistically, looks wholly unlikely.
But no match-ups can be decided anyway until after Sunday’s group A shootout between favourites India and New Zealand in Dubai, with the victors of that one set to top the group and play the second-placed side in the other pool.
The only blip on the result was the cheap wicket of in-form opener Matt Short who is now in doubt for the semifinal because of an injury he picked up in the clash
Either way, Short’s absence would necessitate a change at the top of the order, with Smith suggesting: ‘We’ve got a few guys there to come in to fill a job.’
Big-hitting Jake Fraser-McGurk is in the squad and could come in as a like-for-like replacement if it’s felt he’s not too much of a risk after his two failures in the recent ODI series in Sri Lanka.
The 29-year-old Short had impressed in the opening match against England, setting the tone in their record-breaking chase with 63 off 66 balls, before Josh Inglis and Alex Carey carried Australia to victory.
As his team chased down Afghanistan’s 273 on Friday and set out with real intent to try to beat the rain on Friday, he also started well, taking advantage of a spilt catch as he smacked a six and three fours.
At the other end Travis Head, who also got away with being dropped early, raced to an unbeaten 59 before the rains came at 1-109 with the Australians in charge.
