With only one match to go in the league phase of the ICC World Cup 2023, the fight for the lone semis spot intensifies.
New Delhi: Battling pain and exhaustion, Glenn Maxwell conjured arguably the greatest knock (201 not out off 128 balls) in the history of limited overs cricket to singlehandedly propel Australia to a sensational three-wicket win over Afghanistan in the World Cup in Mumbai on Tuesday.
With this, Australia became the third team to enter the semi-finals. The other two teams are India and South Africa. The Men in Blue will obviously finish at the top of the table with a game in hand.
Now after Australia’s emphatic victory, there is only one spot up for grabs for the semi-final stage. There are three contenders in Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan, who all have equal chance to play the Final 4, which starts from 15th November. All the teams are locked at 8 points and only one match left for all of them to make the most of it. As of now, New Zealand are placed 4th with +0.398 net run-rate, followed by Pakistan at 5th with +0.036 NRR and Afghanistan at 6th with a net run-rate of -0.338.
SCENARIOS FOR QUALIFICATION (NZ):-
1) If New Zealand beat Sri Lanka in their last match, then would expect Pakistan and Afghanistan to lose against England and South Africa respectively to qualify for the semis.
2) If New Zealand beat Sri Lanka and Pakistan lose against England and Afghanistan win against South Africa, then make sure Afghanistan’s NRR doesn’t go above New Zealand.
3) If New Zealand beat Sri Lanka and Afghanistan lose against South Africa and Pakistan win against England, then make sure Pakistan’s NRR doesn’t go above New Zealand.
SCENARIOS FOR QUALIFICATION (PAK):-
1 ) If Pakistan beat England in their last match, then would expect New Zealand and Afghanistan to lose against Sri Lanka and South Africa respectively to qualify for the semis.
2) If Pakistan beat England and New Zealand lose against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan win against South Africa, then make sure Afghanistan’s NRR doesn’t go above Pakistan.
3) If Pakistan beat England and Afghanistan lose against South Africa and New Zealand win against England, then Pakistan’s NRR has to be higher than New Zealand.
If Pakistan qualify as the 4th placed team, then they will face arch-rivals India in the semis at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
SCENARIOS FOR QUALIFICATION (AFG):-
1) If Afghanistan beat South Africa in their last match, then would expect New Zealand and Pakistan to lose against Sri Lanka and England respectively to qualify for the semis.
2) If Afghanistan beat South Africa and New Zealand lose against Sri Lanka and Pakistan win against England, then make sure Afghanistan’s NRR doesn’t go lower than Pakistan.
3) If Afghanistan beat South Africa and Pakistan lose against England and New Zealand win against Sri Lanka, then Afghanistan will need to have a higher NNR than New Zealand.
If all the three contenders lose or win their respective matches, then the team with the highest NRR will qualify as the fourth-placed team.