5.10pm: Match abandoned! They've pulled the plug in Pindi. This one is down the gurgler... and just when I was about to start posting your weather updates from around the world, too. In fact, why let that stop me? This is Alan and Karthik signing off for the day. Make sure to join us for England vs Afghanistan tomorrow when, weather permitting, the contenders from Group B will be trimmed by one. Cheerio!

Navid Numan: "Hello everyone, here in Kabul is snowing and raining together and we are waiting for the match to begin." Sorry to disappoint, Navid

"I'm in Ottawa, Canada," chirps Ani. "Surprisingly, not snowing here today. Is this also the western disturbance?"

"On the topic of snowing, you might like to know it's not snowing in Sydney right now," hoots Sam

"It's not snowing in Pittsburgh," reports Nathan Love

"Dibs on Western Disturbance as the name of a punk/country band." Amen to that, Patterspin

4.55pm: Hello again. Not much to add about the state of this game: it remains damp. But there is still the faint glimmer of a possibility wrapped in a potentiality of them getting a T20 on in about two hours' time... and so we wait, and fill the minutes by bringing you news of retentions for the Hundred

"I live in Central Kashmir and it's currently snowing here in the mountains," says KeatonKoshur. "I was apprehensive about it raining in Rawalpindi, the moment it started snowing here. Same 'western disturbance' to blame there and here." Always be on the look out for Western Disturbance

Do let me know if it's snowing where you are, by the way

4.40pm Here's what Fidel makes of the scene in Pindi: "The water has pooled on the covers and dripping out on to outfield slightly now. I'd say that even if it stops raining, the clean-up job will take closer to 90 minutes."

On that note, here's Alan once more to entertain you all for the next little while.

ziaur Rahman : "oh rain... you ruined my son's first ever live match to be watched in a stadium. can you please stop for just 3 hours? let him just see the players in the ground."

4.30pm No change in the situation at the ground. While we wait, here's a lovely little thread on Virat Kohli's most memorable efforts against Pakistan.

4.15pm It continues to drizzle, and the puddles on the covers have coalesced into shallow pools.

M.Qasim: "I am here at Lahore and there are also clouds here. It seems that rains are falling across Punjab and it will continue till next week. Many matches are in danger of being cancelled."

Anuj: "In case this rain doesn't get going again, all the Aussie and SA players must send a comment to cricinfo (under an pseudonym), the team with the most comments published wins the match, easy and free."

Amfie: "@John: My father had that game with the chute as well! As kids we never understood the fun of that "od-fashioned" game. Now I'm sad I didn't keep it when my father passed."

Damian Sakoor: "We can also decide on the winner with a good old trivia quiz. Teams made up of the coach, captain, a batsman, a bowler and an all rounder. I'm sure CricInfo can find 10 questions during this rain delay." -- On that topic, if you haven't done our Champions Trophy quiz yet, now's the time!

John: "No, it has to be the old Test Match game with the ball bearing going down a ramp to a spring loaded batsman. Must paint the figurines in one day colours though."

4.05pm In case you're wondering, the cut-off time for the start of a 20-overs-a-side contest is 7.32pm local time.

lakesidey: "What's a century or a duck worth, When raindrops fill heaven and earth? When we're lewising overs left and right, As the rain gods, stern, display their might... Added Stern as well, you're welcome!"

John: "Lets be fair. If we need a winner we should just take the result from the last international event between SA and AUS and accept that. And that would be the HSBC Sevens semi-final over the weekend. And of course I am totally unbiased."

Kalyanaraman: "@Damian, a cheaper version would be Book Cricket, played like bridge tournament .... two players from each side and 5 pairs and the last table would be solo...."

Tom: "if it's 'drizzling harder' then doesn't it just become rain or 'heavy rain'?" -- I don't think it had crossed Fidel's strict drizzle/rain threshold yet.

3.45pm We have an update from Fidel, and it's... not good. "Drizzling harder now."

Anurag Uniyal: "Here's a poem to lighten the mood:- Dark clouds gather, showers fall. Covers on, no play at all. Overs lost, the chase is skewed. Duckworth-Lewis will set the mood." -- Stern, presumably, had to make way for reasons of poetic meter.

Damian Sakoor: "If the rain persists and we lost any prospect of a game, can the teams send players to face off in a game of Cricket 24 on PS5?" -- Would have decided the 2019 World Cup final like that (with the latest edition and console available at the time, of course), left to me.

John Mc: "Each hour lost about 7 overs a side? So down to about 43 over max each now." -- Every 4.2 minutes lost is equivalent to one over.

Dalubuhle Gones: "a 20 over Game would be lovely, SA would have to be pragmatic though. Rickleton, RVD, Markram Stubbs, Klaasen ( Is he alright to play?) Miller Mulder Jansen Rabada Maharaj and Shamsi. Oh La La"

Salman: "I don't understand what the NRR discussion is about!! Both Australia and SA played one each and won." -- One of the prerequisites for being a cricket fan is a tendency to get ahead of oneself.

3.30pm Thanks, Alan. It's still drizzling, and there are puddles all over the covers. As for the vast uncovered spaces... it'll all be up to how good the drainage is, when the rain stops, whenever that is.

Hussain: "For Akash regarding pakoras and Food Street, yes Food Street is adjacent to stadium, in fact they are neighbors, but the Food Street is closed since 20th Feb due to security reasons. I hope Fidel will cover this too - Pindi stadium is like a fortress whenever any international match is played the residents are not even allowed to stand at there rooftops."

Karen: "Finding it hard to keep up with the permutations. How much harder does a washout tonight make it for Australia to get through? Or are we still pretty safe?" -- By my very superficial calculations, SA's vast net run rate advantage puts them in pole position should tonight be washed out. Australia, meanwhile, might be having flashbacks to 2017, with a lot more onus on them to win their remaining games.

FAISAL: "Just spoke to my family back in Rawalpindi. Today's rain/drizzle called "Jharri" in local punjabi language. It wont stop any soon. Better call it off. "

tareq: "I hope this rain comes back during Pak vs Bag match as it will be respite for both the teams and it's fans, instead of losing or winning a dead rubber match."

Afnan: "Unfortunately Akash the food street is closed on matchdays. It's literally outside on the back of the stands. You can even see a sign of Butt Karahi from inside the stadium"

Ahsan Farooqui : "From ground: the only thing playing today is the music. spectators are leaving the venue now to take cover. rain is more intense now."

Akash: "Can the players go out and have some pakoras or some other snacks in the food street? I heard it's super close to the stadium. Let them have some fun as the match doesn't look to start today." -- No better combination than rain, pakoras and chai, is there?

3.25pm: Still no change in the situation in Rawalpindi. I need a cuppa... Time to hand back to Karthik for the next wee while

"Welp, on the bright side (or not) - today I learned that 'In meteorology, an okta is a scale of measurement used to describe the amount of cloud cover at any given location. Sky conditions are estimated in terms of how many eighths of the sky are covered in cloud, ranging from 0 oktas (completely clear sky) through to 8 oktas (completely overcast).' Yay?" I, too, have been on that Wikipedia page today, Stefan. Everyday's a school day

3.05pm: We're now officially losing overs...

"I'd rather have SA share the points than play under D/L conditions... South Africa has had bad luck with rain in the past as well..." Not sure what you could be referring to, Ray Martin Spar

"Sitting in ground, continuous rain continues," says Ahsan. "Even if the rain stops right now, the wet ground will take time to dry up. Seems like we're not going to see some action today." I think "Continuous Rain Continues" might be the title for my memoirs

Here's John: "Gardner, the Bangladesh no-result was even funnier. If the 2nd innings had been reduced to 20 overs before it had begun, Australia would've won as they'd already passed what would've been the revised target. Scuppered by the rain and the regulations." *Chef's kiss*

2.55pm: Sounds like the covers are still firmly in place (not heard from Fidel recently because he is busy crafting a comedy masterpiece). Might be time to go and check what's left in the fridge

"Why does Australia always have rainy times in Champions Trophies? Like seriously why?" They are cursed (in this particular trophy), Parteek. Two washouts in 2017, one in 2013. Although the rain delay at The Oval against Bangladesh - with Australia four overs away from a DLS win - was quite fun

Dave Fern: "If, and I hope not, the match is fully rained off - does each team get 1 point? How would that impact England's chances?" Yes, 1 point each - and not greatly. England would still have to win their remaining two games to get through

2.35pm: Just seen some live pics and it all looks a bit grim in Rawalpindi. Enough to remind Andrew McGlashan of Derbyshire in April... and if you're feeling nostalgic, you can join Gnasher over on the Live Report

Here's a cheery update from Zubair Islam: "Speaking few km from the ground. It's 8 octa clouds, slight drizzle but don't think we can have any match today... even Thur match between Pak n Ban is in danger"

"Alan, what is the latest time a game can be started, if the rain does not abate soon?" This is all back-of-the-envelope working, James, and relies on the weather clearing at some point - but we think about 6pm local for 20-overs-a-side

2.25pm: This is latest from our man at the ground, Andrew Fidel Fernando: "Meanwhile, drizzle has settled in. Don't think any change likely soon, from the skies." The "meanwhile" is because he has been busy regaling us with the mega-lolz of his attempts to get through stadium security - I'm picturing Mr Bean trying to break into a bank vault. He's promising to write it up for the site, so stay tuned

Taylor: "With group A finalists sorted, as much as I hate to say it, it's good for the competition for it to come down to England RSA playing for that last spot. Let's face it Aus are not losing to Afghanistan." Well, I dunno about that. But England might

2.20pm: Thanks, KK. Hello to everyone. Well, this isn't the ding-dong battle for supremacy I was promised (unless you count the immovable object of the covers taking on the irresistible force of Pindi drizzle...)

2.10pm Right then. Let's hope a commentator change brings about a change in weather too. Please welcome, for the first time today, Alan Gardner.

2.00pm The covers remain on, and so, incidentally, are the floodlights. It doesn't look like the middle of the afternoon at all. To anyone wondering, we will start losing overs an hour from now, at 3pm local time.

Large Moose: "@Aneketh - only if AUS also beat AFG - and last time it took a freakish Maxwell innings to get them over the line. A no-result here means no one is safe!" -- There's also the SA-England game to consider, and the fact that SA have by far the best NRR in the group at the moment.

1.50pm We continue to wait. No movement around the covers yet. The drizzle situation remains more or less the same.

Hefaz: "@Aneketh If Afghanistan allow that..."

Aneketh : "Australia won't mind a washout. This means if England defeat Afghanistan tomorrow, Australia are through to the semis unless some more games are washed out."

Naveee Zafar: "Currently at ground , not a pleasant sight, covers are still on, light drizzle, and big screens shows Toss delayed messages."

1.25pm The scheduled toss is five minutes away, but that seems unlikely right now. The drizzle is still very light, but the covers remain.

Vysakh: "Until Aus chased 351 against Eng, Australia hasn't won a match in Champions trophy SINCE 2009. That stat seems impossible, but Aus have had 3 washed out games, another one on the cards?"

Tayyab: ""Imagine" I told my brothers, "Klassen vs Maxwell at Pindi!!! Travis Head carnage on a batting friendly track with short boundaries" in our city, we've got to get tickets for this one. Fast forward to tickets day, PCB's portal fails multiple times, leaving us gutted with no tickets. This was our only chance, I tell myself. Cut to matchday and we have got rain! life works in mysterious ways sometimes."

Pranay: "Somehow I have never understood why SA is portrayed as victims of rain when outcomes of both storied matches actually were their own faults." -- You're not alone in thinking that. Sidharth Monga made the same argument about the famous 1992 semi-final.

Laraib Rabbani: "Bracing for a downpour of runs too in Rawalpindi today!"

Manan: "Yes. We didn't see proper rain here before February since August. SA magic. "

1.10pm Uh oh. It looks like it's drizzling in Rawalpindi at the moment. The square and run-up areas are under covers.

MKashif: "believe me @Satyajeet, it was drought like situation here recenty, and now we are seeing rain. Thank you SA :)"

Sami: "As good as Pakistan has been hosting this tournament, it's a poor decision to hold matches in Pindi during these months. It's severely cold, always raining. Imo Multan could've been a better venue, it's also a better stadium since it was relatively recently refurbished."

Ben Brettell: "Big question mark over the pitch today. Obviously it has a reputation as an absolute road, but it didn't play like that yesterday. Whoever bats first will have a big challenge deciding what a good score looks like." -- Yup, and that only becomes more complicated with the weather around.

Satyajeet: "Rain, South Africa and ICC Tournaments are a match made in heaven. They should schedule matches of South Africa in areas with drought and it would surely rain there."

Durgesh Kulkarn: "Think Smith is gonna score a long overdue century today! Believe it or not , for all his Test heroics, guy hasnt scored an ODI hundred since Sept 2022."

1.00pm Afternoon, everyone. Tonight's game comes to you from Rawalpindi, where two teams with very similar arcs thus far fight to get on top of Group B. Both Australia and South Africa came into this Champions Trophy with key fast bowlers missing, and both came in on the back of worrying losing streaks. Both, however, have begun the tournament with impressive wins, and they'll now look to strengthen their claims for semi-finals slots. These two teams have had some epic World Cup showdowns over the years - in that tournament, Australia have a 5-3 head-to-head advantage (6-3 if you count the Edgbaston tie in 1999) - but they've never met before in the Champions Trophy. So much ODI history, then, but also an entirely blank slate. Let's hope we're in for something tasty tonight.