How Pakistan can qualify for T20 World Cup Super Eight after defeat to India and USA
Pakistan have reached the semi-finals in at least six of the eight editions of the T20 World Cup, which includes winning the championship in 2009. This was followed by two consecutive semi-final exits in 2010 and 2012 and again in 2021, before reaching the final of the third. time in history in 2022 (the other is 2007). However, the Babar Azam-led team has its campaign on the line in the 2024 edition of the ICC tournament after consecutive defeats at the start of the group stage.
In their opener on Friday in Dallas, Pakistan were surprised by World Cup debutants and co-hosts USA via Super Over. And despite the humiliating show, the team bounced back strongly in New York as the bowlers defeated India for just 119 runs, the lowest total ever in the T20 World Cup, but the batsman suffocated under pressure in the chase. Pakistan ended up succumbing by six runs.
With India beating Ireland in the opening game and the USA defeating Canada, the two are top of the points table, leaving Pakistan’s hopes of reaching the Super Eight in tatters. They are yet to open an account in the tournament and are third in the points table behind Canada, who beat Ireland last week.
Given the T20 World Cup Group A equation, Pakistan can, at most, pick up four points from their remaining games, but it certainly won’t be enough to secure their place in the Super Eight, leaving their fate firmly out of their control. hands.
How can Pakistan qualify for the Super Eight stage of the 2024 T20 World Cup?
Pakistan still have two more group stage matches – against Canada on Tuesday in New York and against Ireland on June 16 in Lauderhill. They have to win both games and hope that India or USA lose the remaining two games. India and USA face each other in the next match and as long as the match is not stopped, Pakistan will rely on its neighbors to get through. If that result goes in Pakistan’s favor, their next hope will be for Ireland to defeat the USA. Paul Stirling’s men are yet to get off to a good start to the tournament, having lost to Canada and India, but they certainly won’t go into the match as underdogs against the 12th-ranked USA.
Don’t forget that Pakistan will still have to face the net run rate factor. Given that the match against USA ended in Super Over, NRR was not counted, their narrow defeat to India by just six runs left them with a net run rate of -0.150. This implies that if the above-mentioned factors come to pass, Pakistan will be the favorite to prevail in the NRR battle.
