Courtesy: CA/ICC
Australia have been dealt a big blow as their opening batter and all-rounder Matthew Short could miss out on playing the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semi-finals after picking up a quad injury in a Group B clash against Afghanistan. After the contest ended in a no-result due to persistent rain at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Steve Smith, the captain of Australia, stated in a post-match interview that Matthew Short might not be able to recover in time for the semi-finals with such a short turnaround.
Notably, Matthew Short picked up the quad injury during the latter stages of the Australian bowling effort against Afghanistan, but still, he came out to open the batting alongside Travis Head in pursuit of the 274-run target. Although with him labouring his way between the wickets and trying to hit boundaries at every opportunity, it became quite apparent that his problem is more serious than what was initially thought of.
I think he'll be struggling. I think we saw tonight he wasn't moving very well: Smith on Short
The right-handed batter managed to score 20 runs in just 15 balls, giving a perfect start to Australia while chasing a below par target. When Australia had reached 109/1 in 12.5 overs with Travis Head (59*off 40) and Steve Smith (19 off 22) still at the crease, a heavy downpour arrived at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, which led to the play getting halted before the outfield was too wet for the match to have a logical conclusion.
With that, Australia confirmed their spot in the semi-finals stage of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 with one win and two no-results in three Group B games. In the post-match interview, when Ian Bishop asked Steve Smith about the status of Matthew Short’s fitness, the Australian captain was quoted as saying, “I think he'll be struggling. I think we saw tonight he wasn't moving very well. I think it's probably going to be too quick between games for him to recover.”
If Matthew Short isn’t able to make the Champions Trophy semi-final against either India or New Zealand, then he could get replaced in the playing XI by young Jake Fraser-McGurk.
