Pakistan’s last Champions Trophy group match with Bangladesh on Thursday was abandoned without a ball being bowled in Rawalpindi because of rain, ensuring the host country’s title defence ended with a wet whimper.

Pakistan, who won the 50-over tournament in 2017, lost to New Zealand and India and finish bottom of Group A.

Their last match had only pride at stake for both teams, with Bangladesh similarly out of the running for the semi-finals.

Pakistan’s failure to advance beyond the group phase or even win a game was a huge letdown for a country hosting its first major tournament in three decades.

Pakistan finished fourth and last with one point in three matches, a position below Bangladesh, who also have one point in as many games but a better net run-rate.

Overnight rain in Rawalpindi continued on and off and despite several inspections by the umpires, no play was possible.

India and New Zealand progressed to the semi-finals from Group A.

In Group B, South Africa, Australia and Afghanistan compete for the other two semi-final spots. England are out of contention.

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Photo: Chris Hyde/ICC via Getty Images

The Champions Trophy match between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Rawalpindi was abandoned due to rain without a ball being bowled.

Spinner Michael Bracewell’s 4-26 helped booked New Zealand’s spot in the Champions Trophy semi-finals.

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Rachin Ravindra struck a superb century to lead New Zealand into the Champions Trophy semi-finals with a five-wicket win over Bangladesh and in turn dump hosts Pakistan out of the semi-final race.

The result in Rawalpindi also ensured India’s semi-final berth in the 50-over tournament as Bangladesh became the other team from Group A to be knocked out.

Both New Zealand and India have two wins from two matches and will now meet in Dubai on Sunday to decide team one and two from the group.

Pakistan, who won the previous edition of the Champions Trophy in 2017, lost to New Zealand and then India in the first ICC event they are hosting since the 1996 ODI World Cup.

India refused to tour Pakistan due to political reasons and instead are playing all their matches in Dubai, which will host the final if the Asian giants go the distance.

New Zealand have been the team to beat in this group after they humbled Pakistan by 60 runs in the tournament opener.

Coming in as firm favourites in their second match, New Zealand elected to field first and spinner Michael Bracewell returned career-best ODI figures of 4-36 to restrict Bangladesh to 236-9.

Chasing 237 for victory, New Zealand slipped to 15-2 and 72-3 before Ravindra and fellow left-hander Tom Latham, who made 55, added 129 for the fourth wicket.

Both were dismissed before the end but New Zealand still achieved the target with 23 balls to spare.

HIGHLIGHTS: New Zealand vs Bangladesh (Champions Trophy)

The Black Caps had a disastrous start when pace bowler Tasking Ahmed bowled first-match centurion Will Young for a duck.

Bangladesh’s new pace sensation Nahid Rana took down Kane Williamson, caught behind for five, with a delivery bowled at 148.8kph.

Ravindra, who returned to the team after recovering from a nasty blow to his forehead in a recent Tri-Series match against Pakistan, joined Devon Conway to rebuild the innings.

Conway hit back with a flurry of boundaries and made 30 before Bangladesh checked the surge and Mustafizur Rahman hurried one on to the left-hander who chopped on to his stumps.

Ravindra stood firm and with fellow left-hander Latham, another centurion in the opener against Pakistan, waded his way through the chase and after reaching his fifty bossed the bowlers.

He raised his fourth ODI ton with a single off Rana and raised his bat to soak up the applause.

Ravindra finally fell, caught at long-on off leg-spinner Rishad Hossain, and wicketkeeper-batsman Latham’s run out added some late drama. But Glenn Phillips (21*) and Bracewell, who hit the winning boundary, sealed the chase.

Man of the Match Bracewell set up victory with key strikes that started with his second delivery to dismiss Tanzid Hasan for 24 and end a strong start by Bangladesh.

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto made 77 and Jaker Ali 45 in an attempt to put up a competitive total but Bracewell kept getting wickets.

He was ably supported by the New Zealand quicks, with rookie Will O’Rourke returning with two wickets.

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Rachin Ravindra scored 112 as New Zealand beat Bangladesh to qualify for the Champions Trophy semi-finals.

Mohammed Shami and Shubman Gill starred in India’s six-wicket win in Dubai.

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In-form Shubman Gill made an unbeaten 101 to anchor India’s chase in a six-wicket win over Bangladesh as the teams began their Champions Trophy campaign on Thursday in Dubai.

Needing a tricky 229 for victory on a seemingly tough pitch, India rode on Gill’s second successive ODI ton to achieve their target with 21 balls to spare.

Title favourites India are playing their matches in the 50-over tournament at the Dubai International Stadium after refusing to tour host nation Pakistan over political tensions.

Pace spearhead Mohammed Shami set up victory with figures of 5-53, helping reduce Bangladesh to 35-5 in his opening spell before they recovered to manage 228 all out after electing to bat first.

Towhid Hridoy, who made 100 – his first ODI ton, and Jaker Ali (68) put on 154 runs for the sixth wicket to lift the total, albeit with some assistance from sloppy Indian fielding including two dropped catches.

HIGHLIGHTS: Bangladesh vs India (Champions Trophy)

In reply, India started strongly as Rohit Sharma and Gill got going with regular boundaries. Rohit became just the 10th batsman – and fourth from India – to surpass 11,000 ODI runs.

The India captain made 41 before he was dismissed by fast bowler Taskin Ahmed and Virat Kohli walked in to loud cheers from the crowd at a largely empty stadium.

Kohli took 10 balls to get his first run and made 22 before mis-timing a late cut to backward point off leg-spinner Rishad Hossain.

India lost two more wickets after Rishad and Mustafizur Rahman removed Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer to put India in trouble at 144-4.

But vice-captain Gill, who was Player of the Series with 259 runs in India’s 3-0 ODI sweep of England last week, kept calm as he and KL Rahul took the team home in an unbeaten 87-run stand.

Rahul finished 41* but was dropped early in his innings by Jaker at deep mid-wicket and India never faltered after that with Gill reaching his eighth ODI century.

Shami was the bowling hero with his sixth five-wicket haul in 104 ODIs, stepping up in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who was ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury.

Shami struck in the first over to get left-handed Soumya Sarkar caught behind for a five-ball duck.

Left-arm spinner Axar struck twice in two balls to send Tanzid Hasan (25) and Mushfiqur Rahim, for a duck, trudging back to the pavilion.

It could have been six down had Rohit not dropped a catch at first slip, denying Axar a hat-trick and handing Jaker a reprieve on nought.

Jaker, who survived another chance on 24 when wicketkeeper Rahul missed a stumping, and Towhid, dropped on 23 by Hardik Pandya at mid-off, combined to thwart the Indian charge.

Jaker fell to Shami but Towhid kept up the fight until his 118-ball knock ended with six fours and two sixes.

India next play arch-rivals Pakistan in a Sunday blockbuster.

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Shubman Gill guided India to a comfortable win against Bangladesh in Dubai.

Jaker Ali’s blistering unbeaten 72 highlighted a dominant Bangladesh effort as the visitors thrashed the West Indies by 80 runs in the third and final T20I to sweep the series 3-0 at the Arnos Vale Stadium in St Vincent on Thursday.

Benefiting from a huge reprieve when he thought he had been run out on 18, the attacking right-hander took heavy toll of an uninspired Caribbean team, belting six sixes and three fours off just 41 balls to pace his side to a challenging 189-7 after captain Litton Das opted to bat first.

Beaten in the first two low-scoring matches at the same venue, the West Indies were never in the hunt for a consolation victory after losing Brandon King to the second delivery of their reply and were eventually bundled out for 109 off 16.4 overs.

All-rounder Romario Shepherd top-scored with 33.

Wrist-spinner Rishad Hossain led the rout with 3-21 while there were two wickets each for fellow spinner Mahedi Hasan, the Man of the Series, and seamer Taskin Ahmed, who had the distinction of starting the slide when the trapped King lbw and then sealed victory by bowling local hero Obed McCoy.

Debutant opener Parvez Hossain Emon, playing in the absence of the injured Soumya Sarkar, set the tone for the Bangladesh innings with 39 off 21 balls before Man of the Match Jaker took over the show with a display typical of his uninhibited batting style.

However, it could all have been very different had the on-field run out decision against him stood following a terrible mix-up with Shamim Hossain. A fuming Jaker, believing that a second run was always on, could not disguise his rage when Shamim opted to return to the striker’s end and bowler Roston Chase effected the dismissal.

Yet even as he continued to vent his frustration in the dressing room, television replays showed he had made his ground at the striker’s end just before his partner returned to safety, meaning that Shamim was the man eventually on his way back to the pavilion.

All was forgiven at the end of the innings, though, as Shamim was first to embrace his teammate after his power-hitting drained any enthusiasm left in a deflated West Indies side.

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The West Indies wrapped up a clean sweep of their ODI series with Bangladesh on Thursday as Amir Jangoo became just the second West Indian to score a hundred on ODI debut. (more…)