The rain-abandoned South Africa vs Australia Group B Champions Trophy clash could help England determine their fate themselves without needing to depend on other results.
Following persistent rain, the seventh match of CT 2025, between South Africa and Australia in Rawalpindi, was called off around 5pm local time, nearly two hours before the cut-off time for a 20-over contest.
With no result, both Australia and South Africa received a point each, taking their tallies to three from two games. England and Afghanistan, having both lost their opening games respectively, are yet to get off the mark.
How does the washout benefit England?
Here's how the Group B points table looks after the SA vs AUS washout. You can find the complete Champions Trophy 2025 points table here.
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | N/R | Tied | Points | NRR |
| South Africa | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | +2.140 |
| Australia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | +0.475 |
| England | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.475 |
| Afghanistan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2.140 |
England have two games left, against Afghanistan (on Wednesday in Lahore) and South Africa (on Saturday in Karachi). The SA-AUS washout has meant that England can secure semi-final qualification by simply winning their last two games since they will reach four points in that case and the maximum Afghanistan and South Africa will be able to reach is two and three respectively.
Of course, if England lose either one of their two games, they will be eliminated.
Also read: Explained: What a SA-AUS washout would mean for Group B's semi-final qualification scenarios
If the South Africa-Australia fixture was not abandoned, England could potentially have missed out on semi-final qualification even if they won their last two games. Here's how.
If South Africa won against Australia, they would have had four points from two games. If England won against Afghanistan and South Africa, and Australia won against Afghanistan, there would have been a three-way tie between Australia, England, and South Africa on four points each, with qualification coming down to net run rate. England have the worst net run rate among the three teams as of now, meaning they would have been at the greatest risk of elimination if this scenario played out.
Conversely, if Australia won against South Africa, there would have been an outside chance for England to qualify even if they lost their match against Afghanistan. For that to happen, England would have needed to win against South Africa, and Australia would have needed to win against Afghanistan. That way, Australia would top the table with six points, while there would have been a three-way tie on two points each for the second spot, with qualification again coming down to net run rate.
However, with the no result, these complications have gone for a toss and the equation is now simple for England: win both games and qualify, lose any one and get knocked out.
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