ICC World T20 | Who will qualify from Group 2 ft. India, South Africa, Pakistan

11/04/2022

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The Super 12 phase of the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia is about to end, but yet, five out of six teams from Group 2 are still working on their calculators to find out their qualification possibilities. Let us take a look at how they are monitoring their bids to advance to the semi-finals.

“... Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

Similar to how Andy Dufresne’s life story in Shawshank Redemption relied on hope, three teams in Group 2 of the T20 World Cup, comprising Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe, are counting on the same ahead of the last round of the Super 12s. Only India and South Africa have their destinies in their own hands, courtesy of bagging six and five points respectively from their first four matches. Meanwhile, the Netherlands – the only Associate nation across two groups in Super 12 – have been eliminated from the tournament.

India’s qualification scenarios

India, reasonably well-placed in Group 2, only need to defeat Zimbabwe to guarantee the top spot, it’s as simple as that. However, if they somehow endure a shocking defeat, they can still qualify if one of South Africa and Pakistan lose their respective matches. And in another scenario, if the Pakistan versus Bangladesh fixture gets washed out, the Men in Blue, despite their defeat, will comfortably advance to the semi-finals along with South Africa.

South Africa’s qualification scenarios

With all due respect to the Netherlands, the Proteas have the easiest match to play, especially considering the red-hot form they were in until a defeat to Pakistan in a recent rain-marred contest. A victory will confirm their place among the final four with seven points and a healthy NRR, which they already boast of having (+1.441). However, if the Dutch side pull off an upset, South Africa will need a favour from Bangladesh for defeating Pakistan. Not to forget, even if rain Gods play spoilsport in the Bangladesh versus Pakistan game, the Proteas will automatically qualify due to a better NRR than the other two (PAK +1.117, BAN -1.276).

Pakistan’s qualification scenarios

Despite having a better NRR than India (+1.117), Pakistan’s bid to reach the knockouts handed a major blow due to two small-margin defeats. Now, they must beat Bangladesh, and also need either India's or South Africa’s loss to make it to the semi-finals. Or else, if the Netherlands vs South Africa game is abandoned due to rain, they must defeat Bangladesh by a fair margin to topple South Africa on NRR.

Bangladesh’s qualification scenarios

Due to a dismal NRR (-1.276), Bangladesh’s possibility of reaching the semi-finals seems not realistic despite having four points, as same as Pakistan. Yet, if they outclass Pakistan by a fair margin, they can make it, only if either India or South Africa lose their encounters. However, the Tigers would rather prefer South Africa’s defeat than India’s, considering they would go above the Proteas in that case by points, not NRR.

Zimbabwe’s qualification scenarios

Although it is just a teeny-tiny, the hope is still alive for Zimbabwe to make history in T20 World Cups. However, to turn the hope into reality, Sikandar Raza will need support from his teammates to register a huge-margin victory over India. Their NRR (-0.313) is not that bad compared to the others, but even after that, they will need South Africa to lose against the Netherlands, and pray to the Gods that the Pakistan versus Bangladesh match gets washed out.