Picture Credit: Twitter
Pakistan after winning their first two games of ODI World Cup 2023 against Netherlands and Sri Lanka have lost four games in a row to sides like India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa respectively, hence they are on verge of missing out a semi-finals spot once again in this World Cup edition.
Pakistan's back-to-back loss against Afghanistan and South Africa at Chennai have put a huge pressure on them as they have almost been knocked out of ODI World Cup 2023.
Here in this article, we will have a look on how they can still qualify for semi-finals of ODI WC 2023.
Remaining schedule of Pakistan in ODI World Cup 2023:
vs Bangladesh in Kolkata, 31st Oct
vs New Zealand in Bengaluru, 4th Nov
vs England in Kolkata, 11th Nov
Current points table of ODI World Cup 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 game (Match-26)
Now Pakistan can end with a maximum of 5 wins in this ODI World Cup 2023 if they go onto win their remaining three games in this tournament.
If Pakistan wins their remaining three games, then teams like Bangladesh, New Zealand and England will lose one more game.
- Bangladesh already have four losses and if they go onto lose another game against Pakistan then they will have five losses in the table and end up below Pakistan.
Bangladesh beating other opponents like Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Australia would help Pakistan's cause as those three sides will lose one more game.
- England already have four losses and if they go onto lose another game against Pakistan then they will have five losses in the table and end up below Pakistan.
- Netherlands will be losing to Bangladesh as per above point hence they will have five losses in the table and end up below Pakistan.
It will be better if Netherlands lose to either one among Bangladesh (or) England as both of them stand below Pakistan already, and also Netherlands beating Afghanistan would help Pakistan's cause.
- Afghanistan should lose two more games in their remaining schedule where they will be playing against sides like Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Australia and South Africa.
From the above point we can see Afghanistan losing to Netherlands already, and it will be better if Afghanistan lose to South Africa also as they are very much higher in the points table. Afghanistan defeating both Sri Lanka and Australia will help Pakistan's cause to eliminate those teams from the competition easily.
- Sri Lanka should lose two more games in their remaining schedule where they will be playing against sides like Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh and New Zealand.
From the above point we can see Sri Lanka losing to both Afghanistan and Bangladesh, hence with five losses they will also go below Pakistan in the table.
- Australia should lose three more games in their remaining schedule where they will be playing against sides like New Zealand, England, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
From the above point we can see Australia losing to both Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and apart from this they should lose one more game against either of New Zealand (or) England respectively.
If all the above points happen, then Pakistan will be above sides like Netherlands, Bangladesh, England, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Australia respectively, hence Pakistan will be in top four sides to qualify for semi-finals of ODI World Cup 2023.
Majorly, Pakistan would need help from both Afghanistan and Bangladesh to beat sides like Sri Lanka and Australia.
