Australia were after a top-two finish and semis qualification, says Smith. Australia conceded 37 extras but managed to bowl out Afghanistan for 273. The abandonment in Lahore also meant that Afghanistan are on the brink of elimination from the competition after reaching three points. Afghanistan, though, will need a mathematical favour from England, who need to win by a margin of over 207 runs and cause South Africa’s net run rate to slip below theirs to enter the semi-finals. “Unfortunate that the game went without a result. I think we should have scored 300+, but they bowled well in the middle overs. 270 was a good score, but we didn’t start well with the ball. We’ll learn from this. About the tournament, you never know. We still have hopes; hopefully, England win big,” said Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi.“He (Atal) played really well today. In the first two games, he didn’t play the way we expected, but his comeback was good. It was the first ICC event for him, and he played well under pressure. He always performs for us, he took a fifer against England and today also he played with a positive intent under pressure”
