Pakistan’s path to the semi-final of the ICC World Cup 2023, which was already difficult, has become more tough after Afghanistan beat the Netherlands in Bengaluru on Friday.
The Green Shirts’ path to the semi-finals is not straightforward, and multiple scenarios are in play. They are scheduled to play two more matches — New Zealand and England — and they must win both of them to bring multiple scenarios into play.
Before today’s match, Pakistan were reliant on New Zealand’s results to qualify for the semi-final but now they need Afghanistan to lose one of their remaining two matches — against Australia and South Africa — or both (preferably) because the Afghans are ahead of the Green Shirts after the same number of matches (7) with eight points.
Pakistan play New Zealand on Saturday in a must-win match and if they beat the Black Caps, they will have eight points with one more match to play against England. At the same time, Babar Azam’s men would need New Zealand to lose their last match against Sri Lanka as well.
In an ideal scenario, the following results will help Pakistan if they want to qualify for the semi-final
Match 35: Pakistan vs New Zealand — Pakistan win
Match 36: England vs Australia — Australia win
Match 37: India vs South Africa — India win
Match 38: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh — Sri Lanka win
Match 39: Australia vs Afghanistan — Australia win
Match 40: England vs Netherlands — England win
Match 41: New Zealand vs Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka win
Match 42: South Africa vs Afghanistan — South Africa win
Match 43: Bangladesh vs Australia — Australia win
Match 44: Pakistan vs England — Pakistan win
Match 45: India vs Netherlands — India win
If all the results go according to the above-mentioned scenario, India will finish first with 18 points, they would be followed by South Africa with 14 points. Australia will finish third with the same points as the Proteas while Pakistan, with 10 points, will finish fourth and qualify for the knockout stage of the World Cup.
