Pakistan have kept their slim qualifying hopes for the semifinals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 alive with a confidence-boosting all-round win over South Africa in Sydney on Thursday. The Babar Azam-led team produced a fine display across departments to end South Africa’s status as the only unbeaten team of the tournament with a 33-run win via DLS method at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
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Allrounder Shadab Khan starred for the 2009 champions with a quickfire fifty and then a double-wicket over in a contest curtailed by rain. Pakistan posted a challenging 185/9 in 20 overs after opting to bat first before pushing South Africa on the back foot with quick strikes in the Powerplay overs.
Then thanks to a rain-interruption, South Africa’s target was revised to 142 from 14 overs but they finished with 108/9 to suffer their first loss of the showpiece event.
Here’s how the Group 2 points table looks like now:-
Pakistan have lifted themselves to the third spot in the table with their second win in four matches. They started their Super 12 campaign with back-to-back defeats to India and Zimbabwe before registering a scratchy win over the Netherlands. Their hopes were severely dented when India lost to South Africa as well.
However, an improved show on Thursday has taken them to four points now and also improved their net run-rate to 1.117.
South Africa, despite their defeat, remain at the second spot – a win though would have put them back on the top spot which is currently occupied by India with six points from four matches.
Bangladesh are fourth followed by Zimbabwe (fifth) and the Netherlands (sixth) who are out of the race.
So has anybody qualified yet?
Well, not yet. And it will only be clear once we are through the final set of Group 2 matches on Sunday. A look at the points table gives a clear impression which two teams are in the prime positions. India are the table-toppers and all they have to do is beat Zimbabwe on Sunday to go through. But even a defeat won’t end their chances.
South Africa also have a simple task – beat Netherlands and seal their spot. A win will take them to seven points and neither Pakistan nor Bangladesh can get to this tally now.
How can Pakistan qualify?
They have to beat Bangladesh which will take their tally to six points and either India or South Africa have to lose their match as well. And in case of India’s defeat, the NRR will decide who edges ahead.
How can Bangladesh qualify?
Beat Pakistan by a big margin – big enough which will give them a better NRR than that of India. However, in the event of South Africa losing to Netherlands, Bangladesh just have to beat Pakistan as then they will go ahead of the Proteas.
Are Zimbabwe in the race?
Yes but for that to happen a lot of scenarios need to work in their favour including the weather. They have three points and a win over India will take them to five points. And the victory margin should be big enough to get past the NRR of South Africa. South Africa should also lose to Netherlands which will keep them to five points.
And the Pakistan vs Bangladesh contest gets abandoned resulting in the teams sharing a point each which will take them to five points each. In that scenario, four teams will be level on points (five each). And then NRR will come into play.
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