As the T20 World Cup continues in progress, the Pakistani team has come under criticism for their poor performance. They did however received some good news when India neighbors beat USA in New York on Wednesday, this result is beneficial to Pakistan’s qualification to the “Super 8s” stage of the tournament.
After losing their two opening games against USA and India, Pakistan’s chances of going through have slipped out of their hands as they are now dependent on outcomes from other matches in Group A.
Rohit Sharma & Co qualified for ‘Super 8s’ after India’s win over USA while the American side fell by seven wickets meaning that its run-rate (+0.127) is now worse than that of Pakistan (+0.191) because Babar Azam & Co defeated Canada by seven wickets.
Table showing positions of teams so far:
1.India – 3 matches, 6 points (NRR +1.137) – Qualified for ‘Super 8s’
2.USA – 3 matches, 4 points, (NRR +0.127)
3.Pakistan – 3 matches, 2 points (NRR +0.191)
4.Canada – 3 marches, 2 points (NRR -0.493)
5.Ireland– 2 matches, no point (NRR -1.712)
There remain three fixtures to be played in Florida’s Group A where a storm is brewing and there are fears it may disrupt/or wash out some if not all these games.
-USA vs Ireland (June 14th)
-India vs Canada (June 15th)
-Pakistan vs Ireland (June 16th)
Pakistan can still finish second in Group A and make it to ‘Super-8s’. Here are the possibilities:
If USA win against Ireland
Co-host will advance with six points should they beat Ireland hence qualifying for Super-8s together with India since no other team among the others will reach six points.
If Ireland win against USA
But in case of a victory for Ireland over USA, they will only be mathematically alive because their NRR is worse than any other side in the group. However, that result would galvanize Pakistan even more as it would push America’s net run-rate down from a mark that already falls behind that of Pakistan and give Babar Azam & Co. an opportunity to emerge into the ‘Super 8s’ by defeating Ireland.
If USA vs Ireland is washed out
In cases of wash-out or no-result, divided points will carry USA to five points hence qualifying them for Super-8s and rendering all remaining matches in this group meaningless.
India versus Canada
If USA beat Ireland on June 14th this game becomes irrelevant. If however, the opposite occurs then Canada must beat India in order to level up with four points along with USA. But to make their negative NRR better than America’s, they will have to shock unbeaten Indian team very badly which seems unlikely. The Canadians are eliminated if India wins.
In case of Pakistan thrashing Ireland
Apart from the likely loss to Ireland on June 14, this will be a result worth its salt. If that doesn’t happen, what happens in their game against Pakistan will not matter again. However, that is still hypothetical with the Irish depending on what happens when they meet USA as such outcome would place Pakistan at No.2 on the points table behind India and push USA to NRR position.
Ireland defeat USA and also stay alive mathematically for this match although they are unlikely to proceed because of a negative net run-rate which is beyond redemption and has all but eliminated them from contention already.
If rain washes out Pakistan vs Ireland
Should this game end up being wash out; then The Green Shirts will gain 1 point more than their rivals hence making it possible for USA moving into ‘Super 8s’ even with a loss in their last fixture against Ireland.
