Champions Trophy 2025: South Africa Break Afghanistan's Hearts, Knock Valiant Afghans Out Of The Semi-Final Race

Champions Trophy 2025: South Africa have advanced to the semifinal after they dismissed England at a paltry score of 179. Notably, SA is yet to bat, but they have managed to clinch the final spot. Afghanistan, whose match against Australia had to be stopped due to wet outfield, suffer an unfortunate elimination in the tournament. Any hopes the Afghan Atalans had were dashed by the Proteas Men after they bowled out England.

South Africa Qualify For ICC Champions Trophy Semifinal, Afghanistan's Hopes Dashed

Afghanistan had a slim chance to make it to the Champions Trophy after their match against Australia ended up being a washout. All their hopes were now over England, who had to defeat South Africa with a big run margin. However, luck did not favour the Afghan Atalans as South Africa bowled them out at 179. England's fall to a paltry score allowed the Proteas Men to gain the advantage over the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side.

England needed a win over South Africa by at least 207 runs in order to help Afghanistan to qualify for the Champions Trophy semifinal. But the Proteas Men had other plans and they bowled out England after they scored the lowest total of the tournament. The Three Lions were already troubled after they failed to secured any wins in the Champions Trophy. To rub salt in their wounds, Jos Buttler announced that he would step down as England's white-ball skipper.    

Also Read: Former Cricketer Backs Harry Brook To Replace Jos Buttler As England's Next White-Ball Captain

England's Troubles Continued Against South Africa At CT 2025

England batter failed to show any intent as they were bowled out at 179 in their final group stage match at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi. Bowlers Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder took three critical wickets while Keshav Maharaj scalped two and put the pressure on the middle overs. The Jos Buttler-led Three Lions could not prevail and their performance also raised a lot of questions.

As of now, all four sides have locked their berths in the semi-final, with Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa locking horns against each other in the semis. Four titans would clash to clinch the final two spots in the summit clash, which will take place on March 09th, 2025.

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