India fightback to stay in contention for semifinal berth, NRR explained
A distant car in the rear-view mirror a few days ago, India zoomed past Afghanistan and Scotland to not only overtake by highest margins but also in net run-rate. This isn't over yet! New Zealand must have relaxed after defeating Namibia, but the Kiwis weren't up for a twist.
The Scenario
Dubai, where toss has been the deciding factor with dew playing a vital role, Virat Kohli, finally won the toss after losing 13 out of 14 times.
A birthday gift, indeed, as Kohli splashed a wide smile after the coin landed his favour. The celebrations, cheerful, as the India skipper was greeted by almost everyone. Mentally, India won the match at 7:10 PM as the dressing room beamed in delight as for the first time, in the tournament, it was only Rishabh Pant, who padded up as the National Anthem played at the Dubai International Stadium.
Mission Accomplished
India needed to get the win inside 7.1 overs to stay alive and KL Rahul along with Rohit Sharma orchestrated a chase as India gunned down the target of 86 in 6.3 overs with eight wickets in hand. Such was India's dominance that they have now overtaken Afghanistan and Scotland and have now put New Zealand in a must-win position. Just when the blue brigade seemed to be running short of fuel after Pakistan and New Zealand hammering, Virat Kohli's men shifted gears seamlessly and on top-gear crushed Afghanistan and Scotland to bring the mojo back among Indian fans.
The Fightback
The defeat tasted so bitter and heavy shouldered that Virat Kohli and Co. bounced back in style. While a part of the charged-up energy needs to be caped for the final fixture against Namibia, India came firing on all cylinders to turn the festive mood into a celebration.
A 10-wicket defeat and the subsequent eight-wicket loss in the start of the tournament spoke volumes of India's debacle as a complete unit- both in batting and bowling. When the loss seemed irreparable especially on net run rate (NRR) scale which necessitated as likely win margins as India's defeats, the men in blue dusted off the blots to spark hope of a last-four berth.
The Run-Rate factor
From derailing on an NRR of less than -1 once, India's massive wins have now taken their NRR past Afghanistan. In fact, India's current NRR +1.619 is higher than Pakistan who have already qualified for the semis.
Even after such high decimal NRR values, the contention to book a semifinal ticket is quite fierce. A mere good-margin win against Namibia won't guarantee the semifinal berth. For that to certainly happen, Afghanistan's win over New Zealand by close to 45 runs is a must.
Should things turn out this way, India and New Zealand would then stand with equal wins but the net run-rate (NRR) would give the Indian team a thrust and sign off with a 'Qualfied' prefix at the end of the league matches. Over to Afghanistan.
