How England vs New Zealand Match Impacts Pakistan's T20 World Cup Semi-Final Hopes
England play against New Zealand in their T20 World Cup Super Eight match at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, on Friday night.
England are playing against New Zealand in their T20 World Cup Super Eight match at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, on Friday night. While the Three Lions have already qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament, the Blackcaps and Pakistan are still in contention for the second remaining position from Group 2. Given Sri Lanka are already eliminated from the tournament, the match between England and New Zealand will concern only Pakistan, as the side has all its hopes hanging by a thread.
While England top the Group 2 table with four points from as many matches and a Net Run Rate (NRR) of +1.491, New Zealand hold the second spot with three points from two games, having an NRR of +3.050.
On the other hand, Pakistan are at the third position with just one point to their credit and an NRR of -0.461 after two matches.
Earlier in the Super Eight, the Pakistan vs New Zealand game was washed out due to rain. As a result, both teams got a point each.
The two sides had contrasting outcomes after that, as the Blackcaps beat Sri Lanka by 61 runs to reach three points, while Salman Agha and Co. lost to England by two wickets.
If New Zealand beat England in their Super Eight match on Friday, they will move to five points, securing a place in the semi-finals. In that case, Pakistan will be eliminated as they can reach a maximum of three points if they manage to win their last game against Sri Lanka.
A semi-final spot is not certain for Pakistan even if they win their final Super Eight match and New Zealand lose to England. In such a case, both New Zealand and Pakistan will be tied at three points each, and the team with the better NRR will advance to the knockouts.
To make it to the semi-finals, Pakistan would want England to beat New Zealand by a big margin, and then themselves register a huge win over Sri Lanka to surpass the NRR of the Blackcaps.
All in all, Pakistan need New Zealand to lose the game on Friday to stand a chance. If the Blackcaps win, it's all over for the Asian team.
Pakistan Cricket Team
England Cricket Team
New Zealand Cricket Team