Australia vs South Africa Highlights: AUS vs SA match abandoned due to rain in Rawalpindi

England need to consider themselves as being in a knockout tournament from this stage. Jos Buttler and Co lost their opening game against Australia, so now they need to win both of their remaining games. The England vs Afghanistan game on Wednesday will have a bearing on the fates of all four teams. If both Australia and South Africa lose their final group stage fixtures, the winner between England and Afghanistan will progress through to the semis.

Australia are two-time Champions Trophy winners. Like South Africa, they also hold their chances of qualifying to the semis in their own hands.

IF they win against Afghanistan in their final Group B game, the team will progress to the semi-finals. But should Afghanistan manage to shock Australia in the last group B game, the Aussies will have to rely on South Africa to beat England.

South Africa are on top of Group B after the no result against Australia, thanks to their superior NRR. 

The Proteas had a 107-run win over Afghanistan, which boosted their NRR to +2.140 after the first game in Group B.

South Africa just need a win over England in their final game to be through to the semis. Even if they lose the game against England, South Africa can still progress if England don't finish with two wins from their remaining two games.

South Africa are on top of the Group B standings after a better net run rate. Australia, with three points, are second with three points as well. 

Both South Africa and Australia are on top of Group B with three points each. Afghanistan and England, who play each other in the next game, are on zero points after one game each. 

This means that whichever team loses the game between Afghanistan and England will be knocked out. 

Afghanistan vs England on Feb 26

Afghanistan vs Australia on Feb 28

South Africa vs England on Mar 1

The toss for the Australia vs South Africa game was supposed to have happened almost three hours back. But it's been pouring in Rawalpindi, which is why we're still awaiting any updates. 

It must be mentioned that the cut-off time for the start of a 20-overs-a-side contest is 7.32pm local time. It's currently 4:23 in Rawalpindi.

LIke the rest of us, players too are just hanging around. Here's a look at the South African team's dressing room. 

Live visuals coming in from Rawalpindi. Some fans are still hopeful of a game continuing despite the dark clouds overhead and the bufetting rains.

"IF there was a 50-over game, all the matches so far at the Champions Trophy, the stronger team has won. There have been no suspsirsed in the Champions Trophy. But if there is a shortened game, it will benefit South Africa. Australia, in this encounter, is the stronger team. The shorter the game, it gives South Africa a better chance. So this suits South Africa more. Australia would have liked a longer game," says Sanjay Manjrekar on JioHotstar.

So, it is still pouring in Rawalpindi, which has led to a dealy in the toss for the Australia vs South Africa game. The visuals coming in from the city on news agency Associated Press shows gloomy skies, meaning the game, even if it starts, is likely to be stop-start. 

IF it had rained in Rawalpindi one day ago, the game between New Zealand and Bangladesh would have been affected. And who knows, that game wouold have ended in both teams splitting points, which could have kept Pakistan and Bangladesh alive in the tournament.  

The covers are firmly in place as it's still raining in Rawalpindi. It has gone quite dark as well. The floodlights have taken full effect at the stadium.

Forecast for the evening is not looking promising as well. 

It is still drizzling in Rawalpindi. We can wait until 3:30 PM IST (3 PM Local Time) before overs begin to be deducted.

"Yeah it’s a big game. Obviously facing Australia is not an easy game. We are looking forward to this game and will give our best to win and qualify for the Semis.

"We have played a lot of cricket together as a group. It helps to get to know each other a lot. We have played some good cricket all together in the field and off the field we try to spend some quality time. 

"We all just hope that the weather gets cleared pretty soon and we have a good game against a quality Australian side."

It is not looking good in Rawalpindi at the moment. The Super Soppers are doing their bit but the rain has to stop for the action to unfold. 

Toss has been officially delayed due to rain in Rawalpindi. The drizzle is still very light, but the covers remain.

It's drizzling at the moment in Rawalpindi. The entire square and the bowler's run-up areas are covered.

Travis Head has scored 62 runs off 55 balls off Kagiso Rabada in ODIs and been dismissed by him three times. Against Lungi Ngidi, however, he's scored only 15 off 25 balls for two dismissals.

Klaasen has scored 121 runs off 89 balls from Adam Zampa in ODIs and been dismissed twice by him.

Head-to-Head in ODIs

Matches Played: 110

Australia Won: 51

South Africa Won: 55

Tied: 3

No Result: 1

Australia's chase of 352 against England was their second-highest successful chase in ODIs.

Glenn Maxwell needs 17 runs to complete 4,000 runs in ODIs for Australia.

Alex Carey needs five more fours to take his tally of boundaries to 200 in ODIs.

Ryan Rickelton needs 9 runs to complete 300 runs in ODIs.

Marco Jansen needs 39 runs to complete 500 runs in ODIs.

Wiaan Mulder needs 32 runs to complete 300 runs in ODIs.

"We're quite bullish about our chances. Even though in the [preceding] tri-series, we didn't have all our guys, it still was an opportunity for us to get whatever intel that we can on the conditions and share that information with all the other guys who came in. Confidence is good. We're quite optimistic about our chances and how far we can go in this competition," said South Africa captain Temba Bavuma.

"We probably don't want to chase 350 too many more times but our bowlers will learn a lot from that hit out," said Australia batter Alex Carey.

Australia: Matthew Short, Travis Head, Steve Smith (capt), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson

South Africa: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (capt), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi

The Aussies already missing the likes of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood are short of star power in the squad. So, with Josh Inglis slamming a century against England will give them some relief heading into the South Africa clash. Matthew Short and Alex Carey also put in a shift against England with two half centuries which compensated for he lack of runs from Travis Head and captain Steve Smith. Both star batters might find more joy in the Rawalpindi pitch so it’ll be foolish to write off Australia in an ICC event, however depleted they are.

South Africa’s big hitter Heinrich Klaasen had to miss out their opener against Afghanistan die to an elbow injury. This time around also, the Proteas are expected to line up without him against Australia. But they will not be short of firepower with Ryan Rickelton, who scored a century against Afghanistan, in blistering form. Their other players like Bavuma, Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen had also chipped in with half centuries so expect another blistering performance from the Proteas against a depleted Aussie side.

The Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium is generally known for its batting-friendly pitch. Expect to see high scores, as the pitch tends to be flat with good bounce and pace. As the game wears on, the pitch tends to slow down, which can bring spinners into play. Spinners could find good turn and variable bounce. Recent ODI games played at this venue have seen large scores being chased down. Given the batting-friendly nature of the pitch and the potential for dew, the team winning the toss might prefer to field first.

There’s a significant chance of rain, with predictions ranging from 50% to 70% probability. The temperature is expected to hover around 15 degrees Celsius. Temperatures may range from 14 to 24 degrees Celsius. In essence, the weather forecast indicates a high likelihood of rain, which could potentially disrupt the match.

Australia: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa

South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Corbin Bosch

The Champions Trophy 2025 match between Australia and South Africa will begin at 2:30 PM IST. The toss will take place at 2 PM IST.

The Champions Trophy 2025 match between Australia and South Africa will take place at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi.

The Champions Trophy 2025 match between Australia and South Africa will be played Today. The match between Australia and South Africa will be aired LIVE on the Star Sports and Sports18 channels in India and streamed LIVE on the JioHotstar app and website in India.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the ongoing 2025 Champions Trophy. On Tuesday, Australia will take on South Africa in Group B encounter of this showpiece event. Stay tuned for all the live udpates.