The start of the Super-8 round of T20 World Cup 2026 was not good and the very first match between New Zealand and Pakistan was canceled due to rain. This match, to be held at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, could reach only till the toss. But after this light drizzle started and it gradually turned into heavy rain. After waiting for about 2 hours, the umpires decided to cancel the match. Due to this, New Zealand and Pakistan were forced to share points. But this brought more bad news for Pakistan.
The matter reached only till the toss, then the match was cancelled.
The toss was already delayed due to rain in Colombo throughout the evening of Saturday 21st February. However once to toss Pakistani captain Salman Agha And when New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner came on the field, there was hope for the match to start. The toss also took place, which Pakistan won and decided to bat first. As soon as both the teams started getting ready to take the field, it started raining again and the field was covered. After this the situation did not improve and after 9 o’clock the umpires decided to cancel the match.
Due to the cancellation of this match, both the teams have suffered loss as they will have to be satisfied with 1-1 point. In case of a match, one person would get full 2 points. But this did not happen and now we will have to focus on the next matches of this round. New Zealand and Pakistan are in Group-2 of Super-8, where along with them England and host Sri Lanka are also there. Here Pakistan’s next match will be against England on 24 February, while New Zealand’s next match will be against Sri Lanka on 25 February. Then on February 27, New Zealand will face England and on February 28, Sri Lanka will face Pakistan.
What are the rules to reach the semi-finals?
Although both the teams have suffered a lot due to the cancellation of the match, but this is a more shocking result for Pakistan and the reason for this is the ‘Playing Conditions’ made by the ICC for the T20 World Cup 2026. According to this, if two teams in a group have equal points, then the team winning more matches will go to the next round. If here also both remain equal then the team with better net run rate will move ahead. If things don’t work out here too, then the decision will be taken based on the outcome of the competition between the two teams. If a decision cannot be taken even on this basis, then the same team will reach the semi-finals, which was ranked high in the ICC rankings on 6 February 2026.
New Zealand or Pakistan – who benefited?
Now if we talk about this group, a lot will depend on the results of the remaining matches here. If New Zealand and Pakistan win both their remaining matches, then both will reach the next round with 5 points each. Now if all the matches of this group are washed out in rain then all the teams will have equal 3-3 points. In such a situation, the decision will be based on ranking and here Pakistan will lose. Actually, according to the ranking of 6th February, England was in third place and New Zealand was in fourth place. Whereas Pakistan was at sixth place and Sri Lanka at eighth place. In such a situation, Pakistan and host Sri Lanka will be out, while England and New Zealand will reach the semi-finals.
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