Rain denies Australia victory and keeps Bangladesh's Champions Trophy hopes alive

Australia were agonisingly denied victory in their Champions Trophy group clash with Bangladesh to leave both side's progress to the semi-finals hanging by a thread at The Oval. Rain affected a match in the tournament for the third time in five games to leave England and New Zealand as the favourites to progress from Group A.

Chasing 183 to win, Australia were comfortably inside the Duckworth-Lewis target at 83 for 1 when the heavens opened 24 balls short of the 20 overs required to constitute a game. Had the match resumed the Tigers would have needed at least three wickets in four overs to snatch victory from the jaws of almost certain defeat.

A break in the inclement conditions did raise hopes of a resumption but in the time it took for the covers to be cleared and the umpires to agree the game could restart, the rain returned much to the frustration of both sides. Play was eventually abandoned at 9:18pm but by that time the ground had emptied and hope of a resumption had all-but ended.

The no result ensures Australia are yet to complete either of their group games - after a washout against New Zealand at Edgbaston - and now must beat England on Saturday [10 June] upon their return to Birmingham to stand any chance of qualifying for the last four. Bangladesh's hopes of progressing are similarly bleak ahead of the their final match against the Kiwis in Cardiff.

England will guarentee a semi-final place should they beat New Zealand on Tuesday [6 June] yet the game in the Welsh capital - which hosted the Champions League football final over the weekend - is also expected to be a victim of rain. The inclement British summer also affected India's win over Pakistan in Birmingham which the defending champions won by 124 runs by D/L.

With so much of the tournament lost to rain, it is increasingly curious that the International Cricket Council have not included a reserve day for either of the semi-finals on 14 and 15 June. In the event either match is washed out, the nation who qualified top of their group will progress to the final back at The Oval on 18 June. The ICC have however inserted a revere day for the climax to the tournament in the capital.

The first major sporting event in London since the terror attacks in London Bridge and Borough Market in which seven people were killed had initially threatened to give the tournament the kick-start it badly needed as The Oval was awash with colour and vibrancy. The Bangladeshi fans were making much of the noise as green and red dominated the 24,500 capacity crowd, yet their team could il-afford to come up short again with an early exit with a game to spare a possible fate.

Much like he had in defeat to England, Tamim Iqbal provided those supporters with plenty to shout about with 95 from 114 balls including three sumptuous sixes. He was denied successive centuries in the Champions Trophy - a feat achieved by just seven others players - when he top edged Michell Starc for Josh Hazlewood to catch at long leg.

Bangladesh were already six down by that stage but it sparked an outstanding run of four wickets in nine balls for the Australian left-armer. Mashrafe Mortaza [0], Rubel Hossain [0] and Mehedi Hasan Miraz [14] were subsequently all castled during a devastating spell of fast bowling as The Tigers were bowled out for a paltry 182 with 5.3 overs of their innings remaining.

Knowing that rain was incoming in south London Australia began their chase in spritely fashion. Aaron Finch [19] hit three fours before he was trapped lbw by Hossain, having put on 45 with David Warner. The opener went to 40 and Steven Smith to 22 when with four overs remaining until they reached the elusive 20, the rain arrived.

There was brief hope after a 55 minute delay that play may restart, with the second innings reduced to 43 overs, but by the time the ground staff had worked tirelessly to remove the covers the rain returned and with it the inevitability of a second no result in as many matches for Australia.