Green shirts need England’s help as New Zealand tighten Semi-Final race

LAHORE: New Zealand’s big margin victory over Sri Lanka has made Pakistan’s path to the semi-finals even more difficult.

Yesterday, in the Super 8 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup, New Zealand defeated the host Sri Lanka by a big margin of 61 runs, not only eliminating them from the World Cup but also creating difficulties for Pakistan.

The Green Shirts’ only hope of reaching the semi-finals depends on the match between New Zealand and England on Friday. A victory for the English team will keep Pakistan’s chances alive with the situation of “if” or “but,” while a win for New Zealand will end the Green Shirts’ story in the mega event, and their last match against Sri Lanka will be just a formality.

After the victory over Sri Lanka, New Zealand has the highest run rate in Group 2, i.e., 3.050, but they are in second place with 3 points after winning only one match. England has a run rate of 1.494, less than New Zealand’s, but they are in first position with two victories, while Pakistan has a run rate of -0.461 and they are in third place.

The run rate game will be such that if England beats New Zealand by at least 20 runs, then Pakistan will have to beat Sri Lanka by about 50 runs in their last match.

In the case of these results, both New Zealand and Pakistan will have 3 points each, but Shaheen will overtake the Kiwis on run rate and enter the semi-finals.