In T20 World Cup the Green Men are not completely out of luck.
SYDNEY: Pakistan’s chances of making it to the tournament’s semi-finals were already slim before Wednesday’s win by India over Bangladesh in the ICC T20 World Cup.
Now India has six points from four games, followed by South Africa with five points from three. With only two points from three games, Pakistan is in last place in Group 2.
India will play Zimbabwe in their final game, while Pakistan will play South Africa on Thursday and Bangladesh on Sunday. South Africa will also play the Netherlands.
With South Africa and India, the two teams ahead of Pakistan in the standings, scheduled to play against lower-ranked teams in their final games, it seems unlikely that Pakistan would advance easily.
It would not be enough for Pakistan to win both games in this scenario, therefore they would need to pray that either South Africa or India suffers an upset loss in the final round.
Pakistan must first and foremost beat South Africa on Thursday and then Bangladesh on Sunday if they want any hope of staying in the T20 world cup.
Then hope that Zimbabwe or the Netherlands achieve an upset win against their opponents, India or South Africa, respectively.
Pakistan would finish ahead of South Africa in the points table and qualify for the T20 world cup semi-finals alongside India if they win against South Africa on Thursday, Bangladesh on Sunday, and the Netherlands pull off an unlikely upset against the Proteas on Sunday.
Pakistan and India will be tied with six points if the hosts take both games and India is stunned by Zimbabwe. At this point in time, Pakistan’s NRR of +0.765 is higher than India’s NRR of +0.730.
If the game between South Africa and the Netherlands is postponed or rained out, Pakistan will also qualify for T20 worldcup.
If it rains, South Africa will only be able to score 6 points and finish behind Pakistan in the standings.
If two or more teams finish with the same amount of points, the team with the most victories advances to the semifinals per clause 16.10.2(b) of the playing conditions. South Africa would have two wins and two washouts if the Netherlands and South Africa both ended in draws, whereas Pakistan would have three victories if they won both games.
On the other hand, Sunday seems dry in Adelaide so far.
It’s worth noting that Pakistan can still keep their hopes alive by beating South Africa in Sydney on Thursday, but only if they do so.
