Pakistan’s victory in the rain-affected clash against New Zealand in Bengaluru today (November 5) has kept them alive in the World Cup. Here is how they can make it to the semi-finals.

Chasing a highly improbable 402 for victory against New Zealand in Bengaluru, Pakistan were helped by the rain as well as themselves. Fakhar Zaman got them off to a rapid start and was supported by skipper Babar Azam all the way.

Losing just one wicket meant that the DLS par score was always in check and it turned out to be the clincher in the end as a second rain break proved to be the final 25.3 overs into Pakistan’s chase. At that stage, Pakistan were 200-1, 21 runs ahead of the par score.

World Cup 2023: Where do Pakistan stand now?

With this victory, Pakistan have now jumped from sixth to fifth on the points table, with eight points from eight games. This victory has also seen their net run rate get into the positive. New Zealand are tied with Pakistan on eight points from eight games, but their superior net run rate (+0.398 compared to Pakistan’s +0.036) means they are above them on the points table.

Below Pakistan are Afghanistan, with eight points as well, but a significantly poorer net run rate of -0.330. However, to their advantage, they have one extra game remaining compared to New Zealand and Pakistan.

World Cup 2023: How can Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals?

The easiest way for Pakistan to qualify for the semi-finals will be to win their last league game against England and hope that New Zealand and Afghanistan both lose all their remaining games. That way, Pakistan will finish fourth on ten points while New Zealand and Afghanistan will stand eliminated with eight points each.

If Afghanistan win both their remaining matches (against Australia and South Africa), they will finish on 12 points, which is beyond the reach for Pakistan. In that case, they will have to hope that either New Zealand lose their last game against Sri Lanka or win by a small margin while Pakistan themselves win by a big margin against England, and that Australia don’t win more than one out of their last three league games.

That way, India, South Africa, and Afghanistan will finish on 12 or more points each, while Pakistan, New Zealand, and Australia will finish on ten points. It will then come down to net run rate, which Pakistan will have to be mindful of.

In the worst case scenario that Pakistan lose their game against England, they will have to hope that New Zealand and Afghanistan lose all their remaining games as well. In that case, five teams could potentially finish on eight points each – New Zealand, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, England. It will again come down to net run rate then.

There’s also a possibility that Pakistan’s last game against England is washed out. Assuming no other games are washed out, Pakistan will then have to simply hope that New Zealand and Afghanistan lose all their games since Pakistan will end up on nine points and the other two teams are currently on eight.

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