Pakistan made a strong move. (Photo- Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
U19 World Cup 2026: In the Under-19 World Cup 2026, Pakistan team played its last group match against Zimbabwe. Pakistan achieved an easy victory in this match. But during this victory, Pakistan also made a strong move, which surprised everyone. Instead of scoring runs at a fast pace, Pakistan chased slow runs, which will prove beneficial for their team in the upcoming matches. Due to this slow run chase, Zimbabwe qualified for the next round.
Pakistan made a strong move
In the last match of Group C, Pakistan all out Zimbabwe for 128 runs and then chased the target in 26.2 overs at the loss of 2 wickets. But the manner of victory surprised everyone, especially as Pakistan deliberately reduced the pace of scoring runs in the last half. Pakistan scored runs quickly in the beginning and scored 84 runs in 14 overs. But after this Sameer Minhas and Ahmed Hussain deliberately reduced the pace. Pakistan scored only 36 runs in the next 12 overs and played 89 balls without any boundary.
After this, when Zimbabwe’s Super Six qualification was confirmed, Pakistan showed aggressive style and won the match with 23.4 overs remaining. Sameer Minhas gave the victory by hitting two consecutive sixes on Michael Blignaut in the last match.
Why did Pakistan do this?
According to the rules of the tournament, the points and net run rate (NRR) of the matches played between the teams qualifying in the Super Six are carried forward. Pakistan had earlier defeated Scotland with 6.5 overs remaining, but their NRR became much better after winning against Zimbabwe with 23.4 overs remaining. If Pakistan had won before 25.2 overs, Scotland would have qualified and Pakistan would have had to carry the NRR against Scotland, which would have been less beneficial.
With this strategy, Zimbabwe reached the Super Six and Scotland was eliminated. Although some people are calling it NRR manipulation and a violation of the ICC Code of Conduct, but it is difficult to prove the intention.