NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Though officially both Pakistan and Afghanistan are still in the race, New Zealand with their massive victory over Sri Lanka in Bengaluru in their last league match on Thursday has virtually set the stage to meet India in the first semi-final of the on-going cricket World Cup in Mumbai on November 15.
Both Afghanistan and Pakistan have one match each left and can equalise on point with New Zealand if they win their respective encounters, but will find it a Herculean task to overcome the New Zealanders in the net run rate which will come into play if the points are equal, that is 10 points as earned by New Zealand on Thursday.
Pakistan and Afghanistan were both dealt a massive blow in the race for Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-finals as New Zealand cruised to a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka. As a result, New Zealand now have 10 points from 9 matches with a Net Run Rate of +0.743. That means Pakistan, who currently are fifth with 8 points from 8 matches with NRR of 0.036, will have to win their final game against England in Kolkata on Saturday with a massive margin.
According to calculations, Pakistan will have to win by 287 runs if they bat first and in case of chasing, they will have to win with 284 balls remaining, that is chase England’s score in just 16 balls. Afghanistan, who will be playing their last match against South Africa in Ahmedabad on Friday is even worse placed than Pakistan with the current NRR of -0.338 and is virtually out of the semi-finals race.
By virtue of the loss, Sri Lanka ended their campaign with just two wins and a NRR of -1.419.
Chasing a modest 172 for New Zealand chased the required runs only in 23.2 overs and achieved the target with 160 balls to spare improving its NRR.
Leading New Zealand to a comfortable win over the 1996 champions, speedster Trent Boult showcased a bowling master class as Sri Lanka were bowled out for only 171 in the crucial World Cup encounter.
The New Zealand pacer bowler returned figures of 3-37 while speed merchant Lockie Ferguson, and spinners Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra bagged two wickets to turn the match into a low-scoring encounter. Besides opener Kusal Perera, no Sri Lankan batter crossed the 50-run mark as Sri Lanka folded for a below-par total.
Kiwi openers Devon Conway (45) and Rachin Ravindra (42) added 86 runs for the first wicket before Daryl Mitchell’s quick-fire knock powered New Zealand to a five-wicket win and retained the fourth spot on the points table.
(Manas Dasgupta)