NEW DELHI, Nov 7: India has been knocked out of the on-going T20 Cricket World Cup after New Zealand beat Afghanistan by eight wickets on Sunday to storm into the semi-final along with Pakistan from Group B.
England and Australia have already qualified for the semi-final berths from Group A. India’s remaining match against Namibia on Monday has now become only a mere formality as neither of the sides have any chance to enter the knock-out stage.
New Zealand beat Afghanistan by eight wickets in their final Super 12 match chasing down the small target of 125 with 11 balls to spare to secure a top-2 finish in Group 2 with eight points from five matches.
The win by the Kiwis meant that India — currently with four points from four matches — cannot qualify for the semifinals even if they beat Namibia in their final Super 12 on Monday. Afghanistan ended their campaign on four points from five matches from which they secured two wins. Captain Kane Williamson top-scored with an unbeaten 40 while Devon Conway contributed 36 not out. Earlier, opting to bat, Afghanistan had posted only 124/8.
This was the first time since 2012 that India failed to make it to the semi-finals of any ICC event– 2013 (Champions Trophy- winners), 2014 (T20 World Cup- runners-up), 2015 (ODI World Cup- semi-finalists), 2016 (T20 World Cup- semi-finalists), 2017 (Champions Trophy- runners-up), 2019 (ODI World Cup- semifinalists), 2021 (World Test Championship- runners-up).
(Manas Dasgupta)