&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Pakistan’s semifinal chances at T20 World Cup: Beat Sri Lanka and pray for other results")
Pakistan suffered their first loss in the Super 8s against England in Kandy on Tuesday (Feb 24) by two wickets; however, what adds pressure to their quest for a semifinal berth is the number of games left and their standings on the points table. With just one point in two games, considering their washed-out fixture against New Zealand, Pakistan sit in third place with -0.461 NRR, making it highly challenging for them to confirm a semifinal spot from here. So how can Pakistan qualify for the T20 World Cup semifinal after narrowly losing to England? Let’s check out all scenarios.
The easy and simple route
For Pakistan to qualify for the semifinal, they must at least collect three points. With England already punching their ticket to the final four for the fifth straight time, Pakistan has a chance to become the second team from this group to do so.
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The easiest route is for New Zealand to lose their remaining two matches against Sri Lanka and England, respectively, and Pakistan to beat the tournament’s co-host in their final Super 8 tie to advance. This way, England will top Group B with six points from three matches and Pakistan will have three from as many games.
The Points Tie
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In another scenario, if New Zealand beat Sri Lanka and lose to England or vice-versa, while also considering Pakistan will beat Sri Lanka, then New Zealand and Pakistan will share three points each. Everything will then fall to the NRR, with the team having a better one to advance through.
That way, Pakistan must then beat Sri Lanka by a massive margin to improve their NRR and stay ahead of New Zealand to qualify for the semis. For that to happen, England must also beat the Kiwis by a significant margin and puncture their NRR, helping Pakistan to finish second in the standings.
However, should New Zealand beat both Sri Lanka and England, they will become the second team from this Group to qualify for the semis. As things stand, England is the only team to qualify for the T20 World Cup semis, with three spots remaining. In the other group, Team South Africa leads the charts, with the tournament’s co-host India finding themselves in a spot for a place in the final four.
