Showers interrupted Afghanistan’s hopes for revenge against Australia in a 50-over ICC event after just 12.5 overs into Australia’s innings. The match was abandoned, ensuring Australia’s place in the semifinals alongside India and New Zealand. Afghanistan’s chances of progressing are almost impossible, needing a highly improbable result in the match between South Africa and England to stay in contention.
Before the rain delay, Travis Head played aggressively, scoring a quick half-century and putting Afghanistan under pressure. He and Matthew Short started strongly, capitalizing on 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, pushing Australia to 42/0 in 4 overs while chasing Afghanistan’s 273. Similar to their previous encounter in the 2023 ODI World Cup, Afghanistan missed chances in the field, dropping both openers early in the innings.
Short was dropped again, but Gulbadin Naib managed to take the catch at mid-on. Steve Smith then entered and quickly hit two fours, bringing up Australia’s fifty in just the fifth over and putting them ahead in the chase. Afghanistan continued to suffer from dropping Head as he continued to attack Omarzai, hitting three consecutive boundaries in the ninth over. Australia reached 90/1 in 10 overs, the highest PowerPlay score in the tournament.
Afghanistan’s strategy of bowling short deliveries also backfired, conceding 48 runs off 21 such balls. Shortly after Australia passed 100, rain arrived, stopping the match. After waiting for over an hour, umpires inspected the ground, and despite efforts to dry the outfield, they decided no further play was possible. As Australia’s innings didn’t reach 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 displayed the same fighting spirit that helped them defeat England recently, 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 with Ibrahim Zadran, but Australia fought back with spin in the middle overs. Afghanistan lost Zadran, Rahmat Shah, and momentum between overs 11 and 20, before Atal and Hashmatullah Shahidi rebuilt in the following 10 overs. Atal’s dismissal in the 32nd over caused another collapse, with Afghanistan falling to 199/7 in the 40th over. However, Azmatullah Omarzai again revived the innings, scoring 67 off 63 balls to help the team reach 273. Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi hoped the pitch would slow down in the second innings to favor their spinners, but the rain prevented the game from progressing that far.
Match Summary: Afghanistan scored 273 runs in 50 overs (Sediqullah Atal 85, Azmatullah Omarzai 67; Ben Dwarshuis 3-47, Adam Zampa 2-48, Spencer Johnson 2-49) against Australia, who were 109/1 in 12.5 overs (Travis Head 59*) when the match was abandoned due to rain.
