England’s road to WC glory might have closed, but yet another loomed in the distance for them. Perhaps a long winding road, but the Englishmen found their way into the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 set to take place in Pakistan.
With a rare comfortable 93-run win over Pakistan yesterday, England secured themselves one of the last two remaining spots for the Champions Trophy.
So, now who all have made the cut for the Champions Trophy? Well, let us delve into it.
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The criteria to make the cut was that the top seven teams, apart from the hosts Pakistan, will be a part of the tournament.
So, with the ending of the group stage fixtures looming, and just one mere fixture left, the top seven have taken shape.
The four obvious choices are the semi-finalists of the ICC Cricket World Cup to begin with — India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
India have established sheer dominance in this tournament, going undefeated till now, and have eased into the Champions Trophy.
South Africa have been another powerful presence in the current World Cup campaign, as the Proteas with their firecracker of a batting lineup bullied teams into submission and despite the occasional slip-up, are now touted to make their first-ever World Cup final as well.
Australia, who had a worrisome start to their World Cup, have more than recouped themselves on the back of consistent performances from opener David Warner, the wizardry of spinster Adam Zampa, and the explosive innings of Glenn Maxwell.
New Zealand, who required a good bit of luck and the magic of Rachin Ravindra to make the semi-final cut, did not need much to secure their place in the Champions Trophy.
Afghanistan, who will be gutted about missing out on making the semi-finals of the World Cup, will be delighted about the fact that they have secured their first ever qualification for the ICC Champions Trophy this time around.
As mentioned before, it took a whole lot of pain for defending World Cup champions England to get to the Champions Trophy, but they sealed the deal yesterday as they sunk Pakistan to send them packing home as well.
READ: ‘Travelling are Excuses, Maxwell Played with Cramps’: Ex-Captain Rips Apart Pakistan’s Lack Of ‘Professionalism’
And finally, it was the chaotic Bangladesh side, who have been rather disappointing themselves, who have tentatively made the cut for the Champions Trophy.
Both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were tied on points for the last spot, and it finally came down to the dreaded NRR, which helped Bangladesh edge out Sri Lanka and claim the last remaining spot for the tournament.
Now, the interesting side of the equation is that the Netherlands, who are dead last in the WC table, are also still in contention for the last spot.
Netherlands pocketed a couple of wins, including a famous win against the Proteas in Dharamsala. Scott Edwards, the Dutch captain, summed up his team’s campaign perfectly after his team’s loss at the hands of England – “We’ve been good in patches. Just got to do it for longer.”
But there still exists a game in hand for the Netherlands, and if they secure a freak win, they would be the last team to make the cut.
A win will give Netherlands a total of six points, two more than Bangladesh and enough to clinch the last spot.
So, it all lies in the hands of Le Oranje to figure out the final spot.
Full Simplified List Of Qualified Teams:
India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Afghanistan, England, Bangladesh/Netherlands.
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