New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, ICC World Cup 2023: New Zealand thrashed Sri Lanka by 5 wickets on Thursday and solidified their chances to enter the World Cup semi-finals. Trent Boult-led bowling attack decimated Sri Lanka’s batting order and restricted them to a low score of 170 runs, while Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra provided the team with a strong opening partnership to simplify the low run chase. Now, only one question remains in everybody’s mind how much chance does Pakistan have to qualify for the semi-finals and face India on 15th November?
The fans of India vs Pakistan cricket will be a bit disappointed to know that Pakistan’s chances have been reduced owing to the comprehensive victory of New Zealand against Sri Lanka. Pakistan is going to face the defending champions in their last league match and the Babar Azam-led squad needs to secure to big victory against the Englishmen.
Before today’s match, both New Zealand and Pakistan had 8 points on the table and were positioned at number 4th and 5th. New Zealand already has a superior net run rate (NRR) than Pakistan and after today’s victory, they also have 10 points. Even if Pakistan manages to secure a victory against England, that victory should be so big, that not only it gives them 2 points, but a huge jump in the net run rate.
Pakistan has to beat England by….
As per the number game, Pakistan needs to secure a one-sided victory against England which can be either 287 runs while batting first or 284 balls to spare while chasing. Now, everyone knows England has been a disaster in the ICC World Cup 2023, but Pakistan has also been below average in almost all departments. They are in this situation because the weather gods favoured them in the match against New Zealand, or else that 402-run chase would not have been that easy and that would have been the end of their world cup journey.
Still, the Babar Azam side will enter the grounds with hope that England continues to remain miserable and provide them an opportunity to at least try for a victory, no matter how far-fetched it seems.
Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more.
Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
Updated: 09 Nov 2023, 09:09 PM IST