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Australia and South Africa to be semi-finalists from Group B (File Photo: X) Photograph: (Internet )
As the penultimate league match of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is underway between England and South Africa at the National Stadium in Karachi, complications and complexities have emerged for the semi-finals of the tournament. The lineup of the semi-finals in two different countries, Pakistan and UAE, has made things quite tangled for the Group B semi-finalists Australia and South Africa.
Semi-finals being scheduled in two different countries means that both Australia and South Africa will have to travel to the UAE ahead of the tournament’s knockout stage. In the same line of events, Australia have already travelled to Dubai as they qualified for the semi-finals after their game against Afghanistan got abandoned due to rain.
Subsequently, South Africa have almost made it to the semi-finals, so they will also have to travel to Dubai ahead of the semi-finals. An ICC official revealed that this step had been taken by the apex governing body of the game to give a side ample time to prepare for their Dubai Semi-Final against India.
The semifinal lineup yet to be confirmed after the IND vs NZ league match
However, the final schedule and line-up of the semi-finals will be confirmed after the conclusion of the last league match between the top two teams in Group A, India and New Zealand. The result of this game will also clear the air over the question of who will return to Pakistan from Dubai out of Australia and South Africa.
It also transliterates into the fact that one of the teams from Australia and South Africa will be preparing at the venue in Dubai, where they will not play their semi-final match. Either Australia or South Africa will be returning to Pakistan to play their semi-final game against New Zealand at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Speaking of the current action of the game between England and South Africa, the Three Lions are in a miserable situation at the score of just 173 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 35.3 overs. Marco Jansen has scalped 3 wickets, alongside 2 wickets bagged by Wiaan Mulder and Keshav Maharaj. Besides these three, Lungi Ngidi has also scalped a wicket in his 5.3 overs.