Champions Trophy: How washed out Australia-South Africa match impacts Group B teams

For Australia and South Africa, Tuesday’s match was supposed to have all-but booked the winning team their spot in the semi-finals, however with their ICC Champions Trophy match abandoned due to rain, all four Group B teams are still in the fray. 

So how does the washout of the Australia-South Africa match impact the Champions Trophy 2025 semi-finals race?

South Africa remain ahead of the Aussies on net run rate, but will head into the final round of Group B showdowns expecting a win-and-in scenario. Both the Proteas and Australia would need to rely on other results, should they drop their respective next games.

Australia goes up against Afghanistan on Friday in Lahore, before South Africa does battle with England on Saturday.

The Aussies have recent white-ball history with Afghanistan, losing their crucial ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 clash and scraping by in dramatic circumstances back at the 50-over ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2023, where it took a Glenn Maxwell miracle to dig the Aussies out of a huge hole.

So if anyone knows what kind of threat Jonathan Trott’s side possesses, it’s Australia.

“Yeah (Afghanistan) are a dangerous side on their day, like every team in this tournament,” Aussie captain Steve Smith said after the washout.

“I think that’s the beauty of this tournament, with the eight best teams coming up against it. Anyone can have a good day. So, we’re going to have to be on next game.”

By the time South Africa clashes with England on Saturday, the equation will be clearer for both sides.

But Proteas captain Temba Bavuma will attempt to make sure his side isn’t getting distracted and caught up by scenarios.

“Obviously, we go into the game with winning (on our minds)” he told the media.

“But I think, again, that becomes another important game. England on paper is one of the stronger sides, so we know that as a group we’ll have to play to our best.

“But we’ve got a couple of days now. Kind of put our feet up and then probably after tomorrow start preparing for that clash.”

Plenty will depend on the result of Wednesday’s clash involving England and Afghanistan. They will face off in Lahore.

Fans in Afghanistan can tune in to Ariana Television to watch this high-stakes match that starts at 1:30pm Kabul time. The pre-match discussion will start at 12:30pm.