Champions Trophy: We’ve to win against Afghanistan to qualify for semis, says Smith

Rawalpindi, Feb 25 (IANS) After incessant rain washed out their Champions Trophy encounter against South Africa in Rawalpindi, Australia captain Steve Smith said his team will now be gearing up for their next outing, which they have to win, against Afghanistan in their final Group B game to confirm their qualification to the last four.

Australia defeated England by five wickets in their opening encounter in a historic chase of 352 in Lahore to gain two points. However, the washout barred them from gaining two points from the fixture as both teams shared a point each in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

With South Africa claiming the top spot in Group B with three points at a NRR of +2.140, second-placed Australia (+0.475) have the task of toppling Afghanistan to keep them alive, unless England lose one of their two remaining games, in the eight-team spectacle.

“I did look on the weather (app) a couple of days ago and saw a few days of rain, but I didn’t expect it to be washed out. Not ideal, but can’t do much about it,” Smith said during the post-match presentation.

“The equation’s pretty simple now. Onto the next one against Afghanistan. If we win, we’re locked in the top four. They’re a dangerous side on their day, like every team in this tournament. I think that’s the beauty of this tournament. With the eight best teams coming up against it, anyone can have a good day,” he added.

In their last ODI match during the 2023 ODI World Cup at Wankhede Stadium, Afghanistan came close to handing Australia a shock defeat before Glenn Maxwell unleashed his beast mode and struck a memorable double-hundred to snatch victory for them.

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma expressed his frustration with the result and said he would have loved to play their first-ever match against Australia in the Champions Trophy.

“It is frustrating. We would have loved to get in a game of cricket. You would have had two teams coming into the game high on confidence. You don’t really have to say much from a motivation point of view. You mention Australia, that gets the guys chomping (at the bit),” he said.

Australia will next take on Afghanistan in their final Group B match on February 28 while South Africa will play England in their last game on March 1.

–IANS

ab/