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Pakistan find themselves in a spot of bother at the Cricket World Cup 2023. They needed two big wins in their remaining matches to stand a chance of making it to the semi-finals, but with New Zealand batters clobbering a huge total, their chances look a lot more bleak. Pakistan entered the game against New Zealand with only three wins out of seven matches and were lurking in the bottom half of the table. The 1992 champions have struggled for consistency despite getting a good start and as it stands, their future in the tournament remains uncertain. New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra scored his third century of the tournament, backed by a terrific 95 off 79 balls from captain Kane Williamson. They finished with 401/6 in 50 overs, New Zealand’s highest team total in the ODI World Cup.
With the Kiwis having a strong hold on this match, what are Pakistan’s chances of making it to the top four if they lose today?
The Babar Azam-led side will be knocked out of the ICC World Cup 2023 if they lose to New Zealand.
Even if they win the final match by a huge margin, one team among Australia or Afghanistan or both can overtake them in the points table.
The Black Caps will get to five wins if they win today, taking their tally beyond Pakistan’s reach. India and South Africa are already well ahead of Babar Azam’s side.
Their fight for the fourth position in the table would’ve been with Australia and Afghanistan. For Pakistan to qualify, both Australia and Afghanistan had to lose all their matches.
However, the unfortunate aspect for Pakistan is that Australia take on Afghanistan in their next match. Both Australia and Afghanistan are currently having eight points each and one of them will get to 10 points at the end of that game. Even if the match gets abandoned, Australia and Afghanistan will get to nine points, while Pakistan can only reach eight points.
Afghanistan’s victory over Netherlands shut the doors for Pakistan’s chances of reaching the semi-finals with four wins. As for Australia, who have three matches remaining, including one happening today against England, the probability of them losing all three are very slim considering their recent form.
Pakistan have failed to reach the semi-finals of the ICC ODI World Cup since 2011. With the way it is progressing right now, it seems like they will have to wait another four years to repeat their heroics of 1992.
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