Picture Credit: Twitter
Afghanistan after beating England and Pakistan in the ODI World Cup 2023 , have got a ray of hope to qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament as they have won two out of their first five games so far. Afghanistan have surprised the cricket world completely by winning two games against a tough opponent in the ongoing World Cup, as they had only one win from 15 games in the last two WC events, which also came against a weak opponent like Scotland.
Here, in this article we will have a look at Afghanistan's possibility to qualify for the semi-finals of ODI World Cup 2023.
Remaining schedule of Afghanistan in ODI World Cup 2023:
vs Sri Lanka in Pune, 30th Oct
vs Netherlands in Lucknow, 3rd Nov
vs Australia in Mumbai, 7th Nov
vs South Africa in Ahmedabad, 10th Nov
Current Points table of ODI WC 2023:
South Africa - 5 wins (6 games)
India - 5 wins (5 games)
New Zealand - 4 wins (5 games)
Australia - 3 wins (5 games)
Sri Lanka - 2 wins (5 games)
Pakistan - 2 wins (6 games)
Afghanistan - 2 wins (5 games)
Bangladesh - 1 win (5 games)
England - 1 win (5 games)
Netherlands - 1 win (5 games)
Note: Points table updated till SA vs PAK (Match-26)
Now Afghanistan can end with a maximum of 6 wins in this ODI World Cup 2023 if they go onto win their remaining four games in this tournament.
If Afghanistan wins their remaining four games, then teams like Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Australia and South Africa will lose one more game.
Teams like Netherlands, Bangladesh, England and Pakistan already have four losses, hence Afghanistan would be above these four sides if they go onto win their remaining games.
Sri Lanka will also lose four games as they already have lost three games in this tournament and losing to Afghanistan will make it four, hence Afghanistan will be above Sri Lanka as well.
Now, we want one more side apart from Netherlands, Bangladesh, England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to lose four (or) more games so that Afghanistan qualifies for semi-finals provided they win all their remaining games.
Now, among top-four sides if we look at Australia, they have lost two games already and if Afghanistan also beat Australia, then they will have three losses in the table overall. So, Australia must lose one more game to either New Zealand, England or Bangladesh. If they lose either of them, then they also go below Afghanistan in the table with four losses.
If, the above mentioned point happens, then Afghanistan will stand ahead of teams like Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England, Netherlands and Bangladesh. Hence, they would automatically qualify for semi-finals of ODI World Cup 2023.
