Australia are through to the Champions Trophy semi-finals after rain forced the abandonment of their crunch clash with Afghanistan in Lahore.

Sediqullah Atal scored 85 off 95 balls and Azmatullah Omarzai (67 off 63 balls) added some crucial late impetus as Afghanistan recovered from 7-199 to post 273 at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium on Friday.

In reply, Australia were sitting pretty at 1-109 after 12.5 overs - with a rampant Travis Head (59no off 40 balls) and Steve Smith (19no off 22 balls) in complete control - before heavy rain hit Lahore.

Huge puddles formed in the outfield, and even once the rain stopped, the Super Sopper in action was unable to remove enough water from the surface for the game to restart.

Given Australia hadn't yet reached the 20-over mark in their innings, both sides had to settle for a share of the spoils in a 'no-result'.

That was good news for Australia, who are now guaranteed a spot in the semi-finals.

"The first objective was to get to the semi-finals. We're there now," captain Smith said.

"It's a different beast when you play finals. The guys are excited."

Australia beat England in their tournament opener, before rain washed out their games against South Africa and Afghanistan.

Afghanistan now need England to beat South Africa by a huge margin (in the vicinity of 200 runs if batting first) in order to sneak into the semi-finals on net run rate.

Powerhouses India and New Zealand have already qualified for the semi-finals, and will meet on Sunday in Dubai to decide who tops group A.

Australia made a hot start to their run chase, but they were helped by the butter-fingered Afghanistan fielders.

Head was on just six when he was dropped by a stumbling Rashid Khan at mid-on.

Matt Short, who injured himself earlier in the match and struggled to run while batting, was dropped on 19.

Although Short only went on to make one more run, Head made Afghanistan pay dearly.

The current Allan Border medallist brought up his half-century in just 34 balls as Australia reached 1-90 from their first 10 overs.

The covers came onto the field during the 13th over, and it proved to be the final act of the match.

"He batted nicely," Smith said of Head.

"He got a reprieve early. But after that, he hit the middle of the bat consistently.

"When he's going, he's as good as anyone in the world. Hopefully, he can do that in the semi-final."

But Short's injury means he is in huge doubt for Australia's semi-final against either NZ or India.

Earlier, Afghanistan's decision to bat first looked a bad one early as Spencer Johnson (2-49 off 10 overs) gained plenty of dangerous swing.

Johnson's beauty of an inswinger knocked over Rahmanullah Gurbaz's stumps in just the fifth ball of the innings, with the opener standing his ground in disbelief for more than 10 seconds before trudging off.

Ibrahim Zadran loomed as the danger man following his 177 in Afghanistan's shock win over England.

But he was sent packing for 22 when he struck Adam Zampa (2-48) to point.

Sediqullah held the innings together with a brilliant knock that included six fours and three sixes.

After he departed, Azmatullah ensured Afghanistan were able to reach a respectable total, cracking five sixes and one four in his vital late knock.

Left-arm paceman Ben Dwarshuis claimed a wicket on the final ball of the innings to finish with 3-47.

Part-time spinners Glenn Maxwell (1-28 off six) and Matt Short (0-21 off seven) helped slow down the run rate during the middle overs.