Australia's Travis Head and Steve Smith walk off the field after rain stops the play in the ICC Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan in Lahore.Photograph: KM Chaudary/AP
Australia went through to the Champions Trophy semi-final thanks to a no-result in the Lahore rain on Friday night, but looked well on track to get there on their own dime against Afghanistan before the abandonment for a wet outfield 12.5 overs into their chase. According to statisticians, that is too early to use the recalculation formula to award a win, but even those with a far more basic grasp of mathematics could see that 109 was an awfully long way towards a target of 274, and one wicket down was not a factor. With Travis Head rampaging on 59 from 40 balls, Australia were going at 8.5 an over and needed 4.5 from there.
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Still, it was a shame not to at least see the possibility of a twist via Afghanistan’s spinners, with Rashid Khan not getting a bowl before the rain. There was extra frisson around this game given it was the first ODI between the sides since the Maxwell miracle at Mumbai in 2023, when the Australian all-rounder became the only player ever to make a double century in the second innings of a one-day game. This time around he wasn’t required to face a ball, though he contributed a very tidy 1 for 28 as a bowler in the first innings.
Afghanistan had plenty riding on this match: a misplaced resentment around Australia’s refusal to play them bilaterally due to the Taliban’s misogynist regime, the chance of locking in their own semi-final appearance, the boost from last year of having knocked out Australia in the 20-over World Cup, and the boost from this week of having knocked England out of this competition. They had their chance against a second-tier Australian pace attack, and built a credible total with little input from their two best batters.
Australia’s home-brand bowling still took down Afghanistan’s brand names at the top of the order. Spencer Johnson might be knock-off Mitchell Starc but he seemed just like the real thing with a left-arm inswinger that castled Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the first over for a duck. Then Ibrahim Zadran, perhaps not so fresh off his record-breaking 177 against England, pottered to 22 before cutting a simple catch from an Adam Zampa long hop.
But their departure left room for Sediqullah Atal to step up: tall, young, new to the scene, having debuted in the format earlier this season and having already notched a century in Zimbabwe in his scant ODI appearances. The composure was there, taking 29 deliveries to hit his first boundary, then the range was there to make sure it wasn’t his last. His off-side driving was a feature, and he hit Australia’s spinners for three sixes on his way to 85.
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It was a shame he couldn’t go on to a century – a smart low catch at cover from stand-in captain Steve Smith ended that hope – but at four down Sediqullah handed over to Azmatullah Omarzai. The all-rounder had burned with intensity in that 2023 contest, dismantling Australia’s top order with the ball and so nearly getting Maxwell before the miracle began. Here, he did a job with the bat, from the 32nd over into the 50th.
As wickets fell regularly at the other end, he built his innings, increasingly tried to farm the strike, and warmed up into a late hitting spree, starting with sixes off the spinners but ending with three of them from late-innings pace specialist Nathan Ellis, who persisted in bowling length balls that got clattered. Ben Dwarshuis limited the damage by getting Azmatullah and last man Noor Ahmad in the final over to finish with three wickets, Afghanistan bowled out for 273.
It looked a solid total, but Head can make short work of those: eight fours and a six in his first 33 balls as he took down the pace openers, whose short-ball approach backfired horribly, while his opening partner Matt Short took 14 from an Azmatullah over before getting out. An early dropped catch off Head might have suppressed the score, but would only have left Afghanistan more frustrated when the game was called off. Rain washed Australia out of the Champions Trophy in England in 2017, and ushered them through here.
As it stood, perhaps that rain did Afghanistan a favour. Had they sent down another 7.1 overs and had a Duckworth Lewis Stern calculation, that loss would have ended their tournament for sure. Instead they nabbed one point from the no-result and avoided any damage to net run rate, meaning that they could still in theory qualify if England fire up and thrash South Africa after Jos Buttler quit the captaincy of a tailspinning side. It’s a long shot, but the post-resignation bump is an observed phenomenon. For one more day at least, an Afghanistan-Australia grudge match final is still distantly on the cards.
