Champions Trophy 2025 / South Africa enters the semi-finals, who will it compete with now?

India, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa have reached the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy 2025. Despite defeating England, Afghanistan's hopes are over. England were bowled out for 179 runs and could not make a big difference. The semi-final match-up will be decided on March 2.

Champions Trophy 2025: The picture of the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy 2025 is clear. India and New Zealand had already reached the last-4, while Australia had also confirmed their place. Now South Africa has made it to the semi-finals as the fourth team. South Africa entered the semi-finals even before the result of its last match against England came out, which dealt a severe blow to Afghanistan's hopes. Despite defeating England, Afghanistan's dream of semi-finals remained unfulfilled.

Afghanistan's hopes dashed

The eyes of the Afghanistan cricket team and its fans were fixed on this last match of Group B on Saturday, March 1 in Karachi. A day earlier, its match against Australia was canceled due to rain, which dashed its semi-final hopes. To reach the last-4, Afghanistan needed a big win against South Africa from England. However, the England team, which was struggling throughout the tournament, could not do any miracle and Afghanistan's hopes were dashed.

India vs New Zealand match will decide the semi-final clash

India, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa have made it to the semi-finals. Now it will be interesting to see which team will face whom. This decision will be taken after the group match between India and New Zealand on March 2 (Sunday).

Afghanistan's dream shattered due to England's poor performance

The only possibility of Afghanistan reaching the semi-finals was that England beat South Africa by a big margin of at least 207 runs, so that South Africa's net run rate becomes less than Afghanistan. However, England's batsmen flopped on the Karachi ground and the entire team could not even play 50 overs.

Great performance of South Africa's bowlers

South Africa displayed tremendous bowling in their last group match against England. England's team was bowled out for 179 runs in just 38.2 overs. Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder took three wickets each for South Africa, while Keshav Maharaj took two wickets. England's batsmen kept losing wickets and could not build any big partnership. Joe Root scored the highest 37 runs for the team, while Jofra Archer (25) and Ben Duckett (24) also made some contributions.