ICC 'declares' India vs New Zealand semi-final ruling out Pakistan's chances of qualification
On Friday, ICC shared a video on the Diwali celebration at the Gateway of India, which showed India playing up against New Zealand in the semis.
- Nov 11, 2023,
- Updated Nov 11, 2023 2:35 PM IST
The International Cricket Council has declared the semifinal line-up for the 2023 World Cup. India was the first to qualify for the semis, followed by South Africa and Australia. As per the latest points table, second-placed South Africa are all set to take on Australia, who are at the third spot. Till Friday morning, ICC had not declared any probable for the fourth spot. But later, it "officially announced" New Zealand as India's opposition in the knockout round. Thereby, ending Pakistan's chances of qualification in the semifinal round. Pakistan is currently playing against England in their last league-stage match in Kolkata.
On Friday, ICC shared a video on the Diwali celebration at the Gateway of India, which showed India playing up against New Zealand in the semis. The three-minute clip shared on X showed a brief journey of World Cup 2023 so far. The clip ended with pictures of four captains.
The video had Pat Cummins of Australia and South Africa's Temba Bavuma on one side and India skipper Rohit Sharma with New Zealand's Kane Williamson on another slide.
If England defeat Pakistan today then New Zealand (10 points in 9 matches) look set to play the semi-final against India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 15.
New Zealand got a fresh boost in its net run rate (NRR) five wicket-win over Sri Lanka on Thursday. New Zealand's current NRR is +0.743 and Pakistan's is +0.036. As per the calculations, Pakistan needed a massive win over England at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Saturday.
Pakistan need at least more than a 287-run margin against England to surpass New Zealand's NRR. The chances have gone down as England have decided to bat first. And if they are put to bowl first, they need to put chase down the target in less than five overs.
On the eve of the match, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said the equations are definitely in the back of their minds. "It's in our mind and we will try to do it. We will try to execute our plans and how we will achieve the target.
"We can't just go in and start firing blindly – we want that but with proper planning, how we want to play the first 10 overs, then the next 20 – how we have to achieve that target.
"There are a lot of things in this, like partnership, which player will stay in the pitch for how long. If you ask me, I would say if Fakhar is in the match for 20 or 30 overs, we can achieve that. Then follow up with Rizwan, Iftikhar. We can do this and we have planned for this," Babar added.
But Babar was trolled for keeping up his hopes. Former England captain Michael Vaughan shared a list of situations under which Pakistan could win and qualify for the semi-finals. "Keep believing Pakistan .. You never know ..," wrote Vaughan in his post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The International Cricket Council has declared the semifinal line-up for the 2023 World Cup. India was the first to qualify for the semis, followed by South Africa and Australia. As per the latest points table, second-placed South Africa are all set to take on Australia, who are at the third spot. Till Friday morning, ICC had not declared any probable for the fourth spot. But later, it "officially announced" New Zealand as India's opposition in the knockout round. Thereby, ending Pakistan's chances of qualification in the semifinal round. Pakistan is currently playing against England in their last league-stage match in Kolkata.
On Friday, ICC shared a video on the Diwali celebration at the Gateway of India, which showed India playing up against New Zealand in the semis. The three-minute clip shared on X showed a brief journey of World Cup 2023 so far. The clip ended with pictures of four captains.
The video had Pat Cummins of Australia and South Africa's Temba Bavuma on one side and India skipper Rohit Sharma with New Zealand's Kane Williamson on another slide.
If England defeat Pakistan today then New Zealand (10 points in 9 matches) look set to play the semi-final against India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 15.
New Zealand got a fresh boost in its net run rate (NRR) five wicket-win over Sri Lanka on Thursday. New Zealand's current NRR is +0.743 and Pakistan's is +0.036. As per the calculations, Pakistan needed a massive win over England at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Saturday.
Pakistan need at least more than a 287-run margin against England to surpass New Zealand's NRR. The chances have gone down as England have decided to bat first. And if they are put to bowl first, they need to put chase down the target in less than five overs.
On the eve of the match, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said the equations are definitely in the back of their minds. "It's in our mind and we will try to do it. We will try to execute our plans and how we will achieve the target.
"We can't just go in and start firing blindly – we want that but with proper planning, how we want to play the first 10 overs, then the next 20 – how we have to achieve that target.
"There are a lot of things in this, like partnership, which player will stay in the pitch for how long. If you ask me, I would say if Fakhar is in the match for 20 or 30 overs, we can achieve that. Then follow up with Rizwan, Iftikhar. We can do this and we have planned for this," Babar added.
But Babar was trolled for keeping up his hopes. Former England captain Michael Vaughan shared a list of situations under which Pakistan could win and qualify for the semi-finals. "Keep believing Pakistan .. You never know ..," wrote Vaughan in his post on X, formerly known as Twitter.