Pakistan’s chances of qualifying for the T20 World Cup semi-final are hanging by a thread after New Zealand knocked Sri Lanka out of the tournament on Wednesday, February 25. Playing in Colombo, New Zealand beat the co-hosts by a huge margin of 61 runs, giving them a significant Net Run Rate boost in the competition.
After the dominant win, New Zealand’s NRR has now shot up to +3.050, meaning they are the favourites to reach the semi-final from Group 2, behind England. However, Pakistan are still alive in the tournament and need to beat Sri Lanka in their final Super 8s match.
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CAN PAKISTAN QUALIFY FOR SEMI-FINAL?
Pakistan, who at the moment have an NRR of -0.461, need to beat Sri Lanka by a margin of 70 runs in their final clash. Having said that, Pakistan will also need England to beat New Zealand. England’s margin of victory over New Zealand will play a key role in Pakistan’s qualification.
If England’s game against the Kiwis gets washed out, New Zealand will qualify for the semi-final of the competition. As per ESPNcricinfo, if England beat New Zealand by 20 runs, Pakistan will need to win against Sri Lanka by 50 runs to qualify for the semi-final.
The equation might be a little tough, but it is not entirely impractical.
Things will get trickier for Pakistan if Sri Lanka bat first. If Sri Lanka score 200 runs, Pakistan will have to chase it down in less than 15 overs. More realistically, if Sri Lanka score somewhere around 150 runs, Pakistan will have to chase that down in less than 14 overs.
The advantage Pakistan will have is that they will know exactly by how many runs they need to win if England are able to beat New Zealand on February 27. The margin of victory will decide Pakistan’s NRR equation, and the Salman Agha-led side will know precisely what they require to qualify for the semi-final when they will play Sri Lanka a day later on February 28.
As things stand, if Pakistan qualify for the semi-final, they will play their match against the Group 1 toppers in Colombo. If they qualify for the final, the summit clash will also be played in Sri Lanka.
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