PERTH, Oct 28 (FD): Zimbabwe’s unexpected win against Pakistan in ICC T20 World Cup 2022 on Thursday has made the group 2 interesting for all the teams but has left Pakistan stranded in ifs and buts to progress further in the tournament.
Pakistan with defeats by India and Zimbabwe is currently at 5th place with no points in two games. India, South Africa, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are ahead of Pakistan on the tables.
India has 4 points from two games while Zimbabwe and South Africa have 3 points apiece from two matches. Bangladesh has 2 points to their credit.
Pakistan next plays Netherlands in the tournament followed by games against South Africa and Bangladesh and all these three games are now must win for Pakistan. One more defeat will be enough to knock Pakistan out of race.
But mere three straight wins will not be enough for Babar Azam’s men as they’ll have to depend on the other teams’ performance.
The best possible scenario for Pakistan now is Bangladesh beats Zimbabwe, India beats South Africa and Pakistan beats Netherlands on Sunday. This will leave India leading with six points, followed by Bangladesh with 4, Zimbabwe with 3 and Pakistan with 2 points.
Then on 2nd November, for Pakistan it will be important for Netherlands to beat Zimbabwe and India to beat Bangladesh and then Pakistan beats South Africa on 3rd November in Sydney.
In such scenario, India will have 8 pts, Pakistan and Bangladesh will have 4 each while South Africa and Zimbabwe will have 3 points reach.
All the teams in group will be action on 6th November then where Pakistan should beat Bangladesh and hope for India’s win over Zimbabwe and South Africa’s likely win over Netherlands.
If wishes were horses and all goes will according to Pakistan’s equation – the above mention scenario will put India on top with 10 points followed by Pakistan with 6 and South Africa with 5 points.
But if South Africa beats India on Sunday then it will put Pakistan on hot seat. South Africa’s win over India will leave SA with 5 points and India with 4. South Africa will have a game against Netherlands which they’re likely to win and India will be up against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh and both games are likely for India to win.
So, if South Africa beats India then Pakistan will have to pray for Netherlands to upset South Africa and Zimbawe to upset India and hope for their NRR to be improved.
The situation for Pakistan is very much likely to get clear by Sunday evening. So, let’s hope that India continues their winning streak and beats South Africa convincingly to keep Pakistan’s hopes alive.
