England’s victory in the T20 World Cup saves Pakistan’s semi-final hopes. To progress, they will need a big win over Sri Lanka to surpass New Zealand’s net run rate. A simple victory will not be enough.
Colombo: England’s thrilling victory over New Zealand in the T20 World Cup has revived Pakistan’s semi-final hopes. From Group-2, England has reached the semi-finals by becoming the group topper, but now the competition for the second place is between Pakistan and New Zealand. However, mere victory will not suffice for Pakistan in today’s match against Sri Lanka.
Even after losing to England, New Zealand’s net run rate (+1.39) is far ahead of Pakistan (-0.46). To surpass this run rate and come second, Pakistan will have to give a charismatic performance against Sri Lanka. If Pakistan bats first, they will have to beat Sri Lanka by at least 64 runs to surpass New Zealand’s net run rate.
At the same time, if Pakistan bats in the second innings, then it will have to achieve the target given by Sri Lanka in only 13.1 overs. Only then will Pakistan be able to leave the Kiwi team behind in net run rate. Simply put, thanks to England, their hopes for the semi-finals are still alive, but a mere win against Sri Lanka will not take Pakistan to the semi-finals. If Pakistan loses or wins narrowly, New Zealand will qualify for the semi-finals by finishing second in the group. At the same time, for Sri Lanka, which has already been eliminated from the tournament, this match is a battle to save honour.
Whichever team advances after the Pakistan-Sri Lanka match to be held on Saturday, will face the topper team of Group-1 in the semi-finals. If we look at the current situation, Pakistan or New Zealand may face South Africa in the semi-final.