Pakistan’s victory in the rain-affected clash against New Zealand in Bengaluru today (November 5) has kept them alive in the World Cup. Here is how they can make it to the semi-finals.
Pakistan were blessed with rain as well as their own strength as they chased a highly unlikely 402 to beat New Zealand in Bengaluru. Fakhar Zaman got a good start and captain Babar Azam supported him throughout.
The loss of just one wicket meant that DLS’s par score was always under control, with Pakistan ending up with a final 25.3 at the second rain break. It turns out that allowing pursuit in the over is crucial. At this point, Pakistan were 200-1 and had scored 21 points above their average.
World Cup 2023: Where do Pakistan stand now?
With this win, Pakistan has gained 8 points from 8 games and has moved up from 6th to 5th place in the points table. With this win, the net run rate also turned positive. New Zealand are level with Pakistan with eight points from eight games, but their better net run rate (+0.398 to Pakistan’s +0.036) means New Zealand are higher on the points table.
Afghanistan are 8 points below Pakistan, but their net run rate is significantly worse at -0.330. But compared to New Zealand and Pakistan, they still have the advantage that he has one more game left.
World Cup 2023: How can Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals?
The easiest way for Pakistan to reach the semi-finals is to win their final league match against England and hope New Zealand and Afghanistan lose all their remaining matches. As a result, Pakistan finished in fourth place with 10 points, while New Zealand and Afghanistan were eliminated with eight points each.
If Afghanistan wins both of their remaining matches (against Australia and South Africa), they will finish with 12 points, which is unattainable for Pakistan. In that case, they expect that New Zealand will either lose or narrowly win their final match against Sri Lanka, while Pakistan itself will win by a huge margin against England, and that Australia will notand need to expect. He has won at least one of his last three league games.
Thus, India, South Africa and Afghanistan each received more than 12 points, while Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia received 10 points. Next, what Pakistan needs to focus on is the net run rate.
In the worst-case scenario, where Pakistan loses the match against England, they will have to hope that New Zealand and Afghanistan also lose all their remaining matches. In that case, five teams – New Zealand, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and England – could finish with eight points each. After that, it again depends on net occupancy.
Pakistan’s last match against England could be spoiled. Assuming they don’t lose any more matches, Pakistan will have nine points and the other two teams currently have eight points, so Pakistan can only hope that New Zealand and Afghanistan are defeated.
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