After Pakistan returned to winning ways in the ICC World Cup with a seven-wicket victory against Bangladesh, many started wondering whether the ‘Men in Green’ can still qualify for the semi-final of the tournament.
As no team has locked in their place in the semi-final yet, the spots are open for all teams except Bangladesh.
How can Pakistan qualify for ICC World Cup semi-final?
Pakistan, which is currently in fifth position in the points table after winning three out of seven matches, has six points. The team has two matches remaining in the knockout stage of the ICC World Cup 2023.
There are two ways Pakistan can qualify for the semi-final. They are:
- Win all remaining matches and maintain a higher Net Run Rate (NRR) than all other teams that can accumulate 10 points in the knockout stage.
- Win at least one match and maintain a higher NRR than all other teams that can accumulate eight points in the stage. However, in this scenario, Pakistan can only enter the semi-final of the tournament if New Zealand and/or Australia lose all of their three remaining matches and if Afghanistan loses at least two of its three remaining matches in the ICC World Cup 2023.
The occurrence of the second possibility is highly unlikely, and achieving the first possibility is also very difficult as Pakistan’s NRR is currently poor in the tournament.
Though logically it is very unlikely that Pakistan will qualify for the semi-final of the ICC World Cup 2023, mathematically the doors are open for the ‘Men in Green.’
India almost locked in its spot in semi-final
So far in the tournament, India has won all six matches it played. The ‘Men in Blue’ only need to win at least one of the three remaining matches to secure a spot in the semi-final of the ICC World Cup.
Even if it fails to win any of the upcoming matches in the knockout stage, it will still get a spot in the ICC World Cup semi-final if it maintains a higher NRR than any of the following four teams:
- South Africa
- New Zealand
- Australia
- Afghanistan
Currently, India has the second-best NRR among all the teams in the tournament.
At this point in the tournament, nine teams, including Pakistan and Afghanistan, are trying hard to qualify for the semi-final of the ICC World Cup. It remains to be seen who will make it to the tournament after the knockout stage.
