Tonight’s Super 12 T20 World Cup match between India and New Zealand from Group 2 seems to be crucial for both the teams as well as the fans. Having suffered a loss by 10 wickets against Pakistan, Virat Kohli-led team is in a bit tense position as far as the points table is concerned.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s victory over New Zealand by 5 wickets in the last game has simplified the equation for the Men in Blues as both the teams have zero points in their pocket at present. While New Zealand sits in the fourth position on the points table, India stands in fifth place. India has a net run rate (NRR) of -0.973 whereas New Zealand has -0.532.
Thus, this match is considered to be an important one to get further qualified in the marquee ICC event. The encounter would almost give a feel of a virtual quarter-final for the two teams taking place at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Assuming that India, Pakistan, and New Zealand will defeat the rest of the teams which can be considered as the most probable outcome only if Afghanistan can spoil any side’s party by producing an upset. However, on defeating Afghanistan and sitting in the top position with six points on the points table, Pakistan will try to remain in the same position by showcasing commendable performances in the remaining two matches against Namibia and Scotland.
Meanwhile, it can be expected that India and New Zealand will be able to gather at least two points each from the rest of the games in the tournament, which leaves us with the vitally significant contest between India and New Zealand.
If the above-mentioned situation happens, the qualification scenario of Group 2 after the end of Super 12 will depend on what happens in match no. 28 that India versus New Zealand.
Let’s have a look at the prospect of Group 2’s semi-final qualifications, after the India-Pakistan match:
Scenario 1
If India defeats New Zealand, then men in blue and Pakistan will qualify for the semi-finals as the points of the respective teams will be:
Pakistan – 10 points
India – 8 points
New Zealand – 6 points
Scenario 2
If New Zealand defeats India, the latter will be eliminated from T20 World Cup 2021 as the points of the respective teams will be:
Pakistan – 10 points
New Zealand – 8 points
India – 6 points
Scenario 3
Since Pakistan would likely top the points table with 10 points, the only possible situation where both India and New Zealand could tie for the second spot is when the winner of their match losses to either Afghanistan or Namibia and Scotland.
If this is the case, the net run rate would decide the semi-finalists. Besides, Afghanistan is already on 2 points for their victory against Scotland and the former is likely to beat Namibia. Considering this, Afghanistan will create pressure either on India or New Zealand, which will result in a three-way tie with 6 points.
Notably, the aforementioned predictions are all tentative.
