Champions Trophy 2025: How can Afghanistan advance to the semi finals | Qualification Scenario
The Afghanistan National Cricket Team's sensational win over England by a margin of eight runs in the Group-A fixture of the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025 has won the hearts of all Cricket lovers across the globe as this win helped them stay alive in the race of qualifying for the semi-finals. Not only this, the win also meant that Jos Butter-led England got knocked out of the tournament.
In this sensational clash played at the Gaddafi Stadium of Lahore, the Afghan Atalans batted first and put up a strong score of 325 runs on the board. Young Ibrahim Zadran played a magnificent knock of 177 runs, which is also the highest score ever recorded by a batter in the history of the tournament and this amazing knock allowed his team to cross the 300 run mark after losing two wickets in the powerplay.
The Three Lions, never looked comfortable and they eventually got bundled out for a score of 317 runs, and the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side won the encounter and changed the equation of the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy.
Now, South Africa, Australia, and Afghanistan are gonna fight it out versus each other for the two semi-finals spots in Group-A. The Proteas are the table toppers in the group and they are followed by Australia at the second place and the Afghans are at the third place with a Net Run Rate (NRR) of 0.160.
Afghanistan's victory changed the equation of the Champions Trophy Semi-Final
The Proteas and the Kangaroos are in the top two positions of Group-B of the eight-team tournament with three points each to their name. The Afghans play Australia next on Friday, 28th of February at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Their win over the Three Lions has left all three teams in Group-B in a tight spot as they are all set to play do-or-die matches in the upcoming fixtures.
Afghanistan's semi-finals qualification scenario
Afghanistan will have to beat Australia to make it to the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 for the first time ever in their Cricketing history. On the other hand, Australia will also qualify directly with a win over Afghanistan and South Africa will also be guaranteed qualification in the knockout phase.
However, if Australia lose their last game versus the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side, then they will have to depend on the result of South Africa's last match against England on March 1. On the other hand, if South Africa also loses against England, they will have to ensure that they have a better net run rate than the 2023 ODI World Cup winners to advance to the semi-finals. South Africa's net run rate is currently +2.140, while the net run rate of the Steven Smith-led team is +0.475.
India-New Zealand in the top 2 of the Group-A standings
Teams of India and New Zealand are in the top half of the table of Group-A of ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The match between the two teams is to be played on March 2, which will decide whether Team India will be at the top or second place in its Group-A. The top team of Group-A will face the second-placed team of Group-B in the semi-finals, while the second-placed team of Group-A will face the top-placed team of Group-B.
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