AFG vs AUS

Righteo, that bring us to a close today at the Champions Trophy with Australia securing the third semi-final spot. We still have the fourth spot open (just) and tomorrow the action resumes as South Africa take on England to decide the fortune of Group B as well as the final semi-finalist. For now, this is Sourabh signing off on behalf of Darpan and the entire team. Good night!

Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan Captain): "It is unfortunate that the match had no result, It was a good game but because of rain nothing happened. We should have scored 300+ but they bowled really well specially in the middle overs. 270 was also a good score on this pitch but we did not start well with the ball. Too much width and hitting options for them, hopefully we learn from this. I think he (Sediquallah) played really well today. Frist two games he did not play the way we expected. It is first ICC event for him, he played really well under pressure. We all know he is talented, hopefully he carries on. He (Omarzai) is a top-class player, that is why he got the ODI player of the year. He always performs for us, in this tournament also he played good role. Last game against England he took 5 wickets and scored 40 quick runs. Today also under pressure he came and played with a positive intent, hopefully he also carries on. Bad day for me as a batsman today, I will speak with the coach about where I went wrong. It was a slow innings, I will learn from it. About the tournament, you never know. We are still hoping, hopefully England wins big (laughs)".

Steve Smith (Australia captain): "(On qualifying for the semifinals) It is a good result. That is what we were after at the start of the tournament — finishing in the top two — and we seem to be on track. I though the guys did a really good job to restrict them to 273. There were a few extras. Spencer (Johnson) was getting the ball to swing a long way. (Josh) Inglis was happy when he was done with his spell. It was good performance. Shame that it got washed out towards the end. (On Short's injury) I think Matthew Short is struggling. It will be two quick between two games for him to recover. Travis Head got a reprieve early, but then he was hitting the middle of the bat consistently. We know when he gets going, he is as good as anyone in the world. The first objective was getting to the semis. We are there. And we know finals are a different beast altogether."

Match has been abandoned and both Australia and Afghanistan share a point each

Travis Head 59*(40) | Ben Dwarshuis 3/47(9)
Sediqullah Atal 85(95) | Azmatullah Omarzai 1/43(5)

In the end, rain (not cricket) won. Yet another washout in this edition of the Champions Trophy and yet another one for Australia in this tournament. They would not mind it one bit though as they become the third team to qualify for the semi-finals and take the first seat from Group B with the last spot still up for grabs.

Afghanistan needed to win, as simple as that, and they resorted to their strength as soon as they won the toss which is batting first. They played out the first powerplay really well with the swing on offer for the Aussie pacers who sprayed it around as Afghanistan lost just one in the first 10 and scored 54 runs. However, spin really tied them down in the middle overs as Smith got to use three of them including Short as Afghanistan lost regular wickets in the middle overs. Only Sediqullah Atal managed to make it big as he scored 85 but could not convert it into a century. They were 199/7 at one stage but an absolute gem from Omarzai who scored 67 propelled Afghanistan to 273.

Chasing 274, Aussies were always going to come hard in the first powerplay and that is exactly where they broke the back of the run chase. Head unleashed himself after Rashid dropped an important catch and he made them pay. Short played his part with a quick 20 as Australia breezed away to 90 at the end of 10 overs.

Head was looking ominous with Smith giving him good company but then rain intervened at the 12.5 over mark with Australia at 109/1 and we were not able to resume post that. It rained hard for 45-odd minutes in Lahore and that damaged the situation of the ground and outfield so bad that even a 20-over game was not possible after the rain stopped even though the groundsmen tried their level best with all sorts of resorts to get the conditions fit for play but they could not.

9:20 PM IST, 8:50 PM Local Time: The match has been called off and Australia are through to the semi-finals. This looked on the cards since a while and finally the umpires have taken the call. Handshakes all around as Dharamsena walks into the Australian dressing room while Alex Wharf trudges into the Afghanistan one. Both the captains have been informed and now both the units are shaking hands with each other. A huge disappointment for the crowd who turned out in good numbers to support Afghanistan but less than an hour of intense rain had blown this game away. Australia would be pretty happy having booked their spot in the semis but they would have liked a full game here. On the other hand, Afghanistan know pretty much know their fate and would need a miraculous effort from England tomorrow.

9:14 PM IST, 8:44 PM Local Time: The umpires are walking out for the inspection. Kumar Dharamsena just tried to feel the ground with his shoe and there is still a lot of water coming out. They are now having a chat with reserve ump Richard Kettleborough. The groundsmen are still tirelessly using the sponges to soak in the water while the supersopper continues its operation as well but there are still a lot of puddles which are not a great indication.

9:05 PM IST, 8:35 PM Local Time: 10 minutes away from the official inspection and we can still see puddles on the outfield. It does not look very promising at this moment but the groundsmen are giving it their all doubling down as manual supersoppers stepping on sponges and trying to suck out all the water from the ground that they can while the lone supersopper (actual machine) is in operation as well. Richard Kettleborough, the reserve umpire, is having a look at the proceedings.

8:37 PM IST, 8:07 PM Local Time: An inspection has been scheduled at 8:45 Local Time (9:15 PM IST). We will be back then with the next update.

8:30 PM IST, 8PM Local Time: The cleanup job is well and truly on and the covers have been peeled off as well with only the main pitch being covered according to live visuals. The umpires are out there having a look as well. The super sopper is in operation too. The good thing is that there is no rain at the moment but the outfield and the areas adjacent to the square look absolutely soaked with many puddles. It will take a lot of time to make this cricket-ready. 

Some big breaking news coming in from a few hundred miles away from Lahore, England white-ball skipper Jos Buttler has announced that he is going to resign from the captaincy duties after the Champions Trophy. Here is all you need to know 👇

8:07 PM IST, 7:37 PM Local Time: The rain has stopped at the Gaddafi Stadium. Looks like the winds have blown the rain away but it has already done a lot of damage. There are lots of puddles which have emerged as seen on live visuals. The super soppers are at work, the cleanup should take a bit of time. We will keep you posted. We have around two and a half hours for the mop-up to be completed with the cut-off time for a 20-over game being 10:41 PM IST, 10:11 Local Time.

Fenil: "What's the latest time to contest 20 over game? If we get 20 overs game, I think Afg should get some more runs to defend at least otherwise it would be easy for Aus as Afg doing bowling as 50 over game and save spinners for later stage!!?"
The latest time we can start with a 20-over game is 10:41 PM IST, 10:11 PM Local Time.

Parv: "What are the DLS Updates?"
Australia's target would be 123 in case there is a 20-over game and 191 in case of 30 overs. But that looks too far-fetched at this stage with the rain pouring down.