Is Pakistan out of T20 World Cup: Pakistan were on the undesired side of the result the second consecutive match in the ongoing World Cup.
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During the 24th match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at the Perth Stadium, Zimbabwe have managed to cause a major upset, as they defeat Pakistan in a humdinger of a contest by 1 run, to register only their second victory ever against the Asian nation in this format.
En route the rather modest target of 131 runs, Pakistan, akin their previous match against India, got off to a horrid start, losing their dependable opening pair of skipper Babar Azam (4 off 9) and Mohammad Rizwan (14 off 16) within the Powerplay.
Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, Babar Azam’s men hardly looked out of the game, requiring mere 38 runs off the final 5 Overs, with five wickets in hand and the well set Shan Masood (44 off 38) at the crease.
However, the experienced Zimbabwean allrounder Sikandar Raza (4-0-25-3) turned up with the ball this time around, as he not only caught the big fishes in Shadab Khan (17 off 14) and Haider Ali (0 off 1) off consecutive deliveries earlier during the 14th Over, but also dismissed Masood later to cause panic in the Pakistani camp.
Ultimately, with 11 runs required off the last Over, all eyes were on Mohammad Nawaz (22 off 18) to take his team over the line, but with him getting Out on the penultimate delivery, Pakistan managed to score just a single off the final ball, to lose the match by one run.
Is Pakistan out of T20 World Cup
Losing both their matches in the ongoing World Cup on the final delivery, Pakistan have now slipped down to the fifth spot in the Super 12 Group 2 points table.
Tonight’s loss has meant that Pakistan are all but out of the tournament, as they will not only have to win all their remaining three matches of the ‘Super 12’ stage, but do so convincingly to up their Net run rate (NRR) as well, which post the loss tonight reads -0.050.
Moreover, they will also have to expect at least a couple of other results from ‘Group 2’ to go their way as well, just like India had to have their way during the T20 World Cup in UAE last year, when they too had lost both their opening matches against Pakistan and New Zealand.
They will thus, not only have to expect India to win their remaining three ‘Super 12’ matches including those against South Africa and Zimbabwe, but also hope one of South Africa or Zimbabwe to lose at least two matches as well in order to finish second in the table, below India.
UPDATE: Pakistan have reached to the third position on Group 2 points table after beating South Africa by 33 runs (DLS Method) in Sydney. Pakistan, who still need to win their last match against Zimbabwe in Adelaide on Sunday, will be hoping for one out of South Africa or India to lose their last Super 12 match. An Indian loss, in particular, will take things down to the NRR (Net Run Rate) of the arch-rivals.
