ENG vs PAK: England and Pakistan are having a go at each other in the 44th match of World Cup 2023. Babar Azam's men are facing an improbable task of overtaking New Zealand's Net run rate and pipping them out of the top four places in the tournament. The Men in Green have now lost the toss too and have been asked to bowl first.
Before this game, there was a criterion of qualification which suited Pakistan a little better if they had batted first. Pakistan needed a 287-run win to go past New Zealand's NRR and needed to score a minimum of 300 for that. But now they have been asked to do a near-impossible task. New Zealand are ranked fourth in the World Cup points table with an NRR of +0.743, while Pakistan are fifth with an NRR of +0.036.
Are PAK already out?
Pakistan are officially still in contention to qualify for the semifinals at the toss. But their already improbable seeming task is even more steep now. The 1992 champions can still qualify in the chase but that does not seem practical.
If England bat first:
England's total - 20, Pakistan to chase within 1.3 overs
England's total - 50, Pakistan to chase within 2 overs
England's total - 100, Pakistan to chase within 2.5 overs
England's total - 150, Pakistan to chase within 3.4 overs
England's total - 200, Pakistan to chase within 4.3 overs
England's total - 300, Pakistan to chase within 6.1 overs
However, if Pakistan had batted first, they would have had slightly better chances to pip New Zealand. Here is a scenario if Pakistan would have batted first.
If Pakistan would have batted first:
Pakistan total's - 300, restrict England to 13 runs
Pakistan total's - 350, restrict England to 63 runs
Pakistan total's - 400, restrict England to 112 runs
Pakistan total's - 450, restrict England to 162 runs
Pakistan total's - 500, restrict England to 211 runs
After winning the toss, England captain Jos Buttler opted to bat first. "We gonna bat first. Looks a good wicket, looks a bit dry and we want to make first use of it. We are going with the same team today. It's always good to break a losing streak. We would look to try and do justice to ourselves. (On David Willey) Emotional day for him, he has been great for us. So, we talked about trying to enjoy it and take it all in," Buttler said at toss.
Babar Azam also wanted to bat first. "We wanted to bat first, but toss is not in our hands. We have good bowlers and we would look to bowl them out cheaply. We have one change - Hasan Ali is not playing and Shadab Khan comes in his place. We are looking forward to Fakhar's batting. We will try our best," he said.
