LAHORE: The rains hadn’t returned and with the pitch and the outfield of the Gaddafi Stadium basking in the sun on Friday, the dreaded prospect of yet another washout at the Champions Trophy seemed to be, thankfully, quickly diminishing.
Afghanistan fans had begun trickling into the stadium as the toss approached, some in their green and red turbans, others with their national flag draped around them.
This was a virtual quarter-final against Australia, and having seen their side down England in a thriller two nights ago, the Afghans were hoping for more.
There were also scores to settle: remember Glenn Maxwell, Wankhede, 2023. Although Afghanistan did get back at Australia at last year’s Twenty20 World Cup, that defeat remains one of the most painful ones in the One-day International format. The mention of that never escapes them.
Here was a chance to avenge that; a spot in the semi-finals on the line for the winner. Afghanistan fans had packed almost all of the venue apart from the premium enclosures, the anticipation building after their team had set Australia a target of 274 to win.
Earlier, they had loudly roared in delight when Sediqullah Atal, Afghanistan’s top-scorer with 85, had heaved Maxwell down the ground for a six to reach his half-century. Azmatullah Omarzai’s 67 at the end, gave them reason to believe.
But soon they were gasping. Australian openers tore into the Afghanistan attack and both Travis Head and Matthew Short were dropped until Gulbadin Naib held on to a running catch to see off the latter.
Head, who remained unbeaten with a 40-ball 59, and skipper Steve Smith then took Australia to 109-1 after 12.5 overs when the rains returned and the square was covered, hordes of fans streaming towards shelter, with the old shades of the Gaddafi having been removed during its recent renovation.
So heavy was the downpour that it was apparent there would be no chance of play resuming. Australia had kept the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculations in consideration and when play stopped, they were 53 runs ahead of the par score.
But with a minimum of 20 overs to be bowled for a result, officials waited for the rain to stop.
Rains in Rawalpindi had seen two of the last three matches of the tournament ending with no result. Friday was Lahore’s turn; a pitch inspection at 8:45pm seeing the match ultimately being abandoned due to a wet outfield.
The shared point means Australia, with four, are through to the semi-finals from Group ‘B’ while Afghanistan need a wild swing in South Africa’s run-rate if they are to go through. South Africa face already-eliminated England in the last group game in Karachi on Saturday.
“Unfortunate that the game went without a result,” Afghanistan batter Hashmatullah Shahidi said. “Was a good game. I think we should have scored above 300 but they bowled well in the middle overs. 270 was a good score but we didn’t start well with the ball. But you never know in the tournament. We still hope England can win big against South Africa.”
Smith, meanwhile, was looking ahead to the semi-finals where either India or New Zealand await the world champions. “It was a good performance, shame the game was washed out,” he said. “The players have done a good job, they are excited so hope we can keep going in this tournament.”
Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2025
