Pakistan's comeback continued as they recorded another crucial win to boost their chances for World Cup 2023 semifinal qualification on Saturday, November 4. After losing four consecutive games, Babar Azam's Pakistan are now knocking on the door for the semifinal with eight points from eight games.
New Zealand suffered their fourth straight defeat despite scoring 401 runs, their biggest ODI World Cup total. The rain-hit game witnessed a sensational 63-ball hundred from the veteran Fakhar Zaman and another fifty from Bazar that helped Pakistan earn a 21-run win on the DLS method at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Pakistan's World Cup 2023 semifinal scenarios:
With four wins in eight games, Pakistan will not ensure a semifinal qualification if they beat England in their final group stage game. They can reach 10 points but Australia, New Zealand and Afghanistan can also finish with 10 or more points. Pakistan have to depend on other results and need to ensure a healthy positive net run rate as well.
However, Pakistan will ensure an automatic qualification if they beat England, Sri Lanka beat New Zealand and both Australia and South Africa defeat Afghanistan, which seems a strong possibility considering the current form.
What if New Zealand beat Sri Lanka to earn 10 points? Pakistan need to defeat England by 130-plus runs in their last game and hope for big defeats for Afghanistan in their last two games against Australia and South Africa.
Pakistan's chances will be very slim if they fail to overcome England's challenge as qualifying with eight points seems an impossible task. They can pray for heavy defeat(s) for New Zealand and Afghanistan, as the Kiwis maintain a better net run rate compared to Asian teams.
Updated World Cup points table after Pakistan vs New Zealand match:
| Teams | Matches played | Won | Lost | Tied | No Result | Points | Net Run Rate (NRR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2.102 |
| South Africa | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2.290 |
| Australia | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0.924 |
| New Zealand | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.398 |
| Pakistan | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.036 |
| Afghanistan | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.330 |
| Sri Lanka | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1.162 |
| Netherlands | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1.398 |
| Bangladesh | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1.446 |
| England | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1.504 |
Pakistan World Cup Squad: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Shaheen Afridi, Usama Mir, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan (vc), Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali
