When the penultimate league match got underway at Kolkata, Pakistan had only a mathematical chance of qualifying for the 2023 World Cup semi-finals ahead of New Zealand.

Had they batted first against England, they needed to win by 287 runs. Only two teams have won by bigger margins at the World Cup. Across all men’s ODIs, the count reads five.

Yet, that was nothing compared to the absurd targets Pakistan needed had they bowled first, which explained Babar Azam’s semi-resigned smile when Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bat.

Of course, it was mathematically possible. Had Pakistan bowled out England for zero and won off the first ball they faced, they would have qualified. In fact, they could have even allowed England to score 168 and hit 29 sixes in 29 balls to win the match. Had they conceded more than 168 or hit anything other than a six in each of 29 balls, it would not have been enough.

As things turned out, England made 337-9. Pakistan needed to 343 in 7.2 overs – at 46.77 an over. The target, while unattaniable for all practical purposes, was still gettable with a ridiculously high number of wides and no-balls.

However, nothing like that happened, and Pakistan were only 34-2 when Chris Woakes bowled the third ball of the eighth over, and Pakistan were officially knocked out. No number of extra balls, accompanied by free hits or otherwise, would get them beyond New Zealand’s net run rate of +0.743.

World Cup 2023 semi-final line-ups

Semi-final 1 – November 15: India v New Zealand (Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai)
Semi-final 2 – November 16: Australia v South Africa (Eden Gardens, Kolkata)

The final will be played on November 19, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.