Pakistan faced a challenging start against New Zealand’s formidable top order. Still, Centurion Fakhar Zaman led the charge in a thrilling counterattack that ultimately resulted in a 21-run victory for Pakistan under the DLS method, keeping their hopes alive for a semifinal berth.
South Africa (12 points) became the second team to secure a spot in the semifinals, following Pakistan’s victory, just like India (14 points).
Pakistan’s qualification scenarios are as follows:
If New Zealand wins the remaining match against Sri Lanka, then Pakistan must win their remaining game against England by at least 150 runs to qualify.
Even if Pakistan wins the remaining match against England with a reasonable run rate, Afghanistan loses both matches. Pakistan may still need to rely on a net run rate to qualify.
If Pakistan and New Zealand finish the group stage with the same points, the net run rate will determine which team qualifies for the semifinals.
Pakistan currently has a net run rate of +0.036, while New Zealand has a net rate of +0.398
If Afghanistan wins both matches against Australia and South Africa, they will quickly enter the Semifinals with 12 points.
