Let's talk about the qualification scenarios in both groups and which teams are most likely to advance to the semifinals now that nearly all of the teams have completed more than half of the games in this round.
Follow Us
The 2022 T20 World Cup has already provided a number of twists and turns firstly in round 1 and then in the Super 12 stage of the game, more than living up to the excitement and anticipation that surrounded it. Let’s talk about the qualification scenarios in both groups and which teams are most likely to advance to the semifinals now that nearly all of the teams have completed more than half of the games in this round.
New Zealand and England hold the top two spots in Group 1 with five points each after each team has played four games. With a commanding NRR of +2.333, the Blackcaps are in the first place, followed by England in second place after a valiant 20-run victory over New Zealand. The NRR for England right now is +0.547. England was able to overtake the hosts Australia and move up to third place thanks to the favourable NRR. Australia is tied for third place with England and New Zealand in terms of points, however, they currently have a negative NRR of -0.304. The Group 1 qualification battle is extremely close, and it can come down to the very last matchday.
England plays the last game in the group so they will have the advantage to know by what margin they need to win their game against Sri Lanka even if Australia beats Afghanistan in their last group game. As of now, Australia needs to beat the Afghans by a margin of 50 runs to overtake the NRR of England but since the English play, the last group game the defending champions would hope to win their game as big a margin as possible. While Ireland and Sri Lanka have next to no chance of advancing, Afghanistan has already been eliminated.
Zimbabwe is currently ranked fourth in Group 2 after Bangladesh, India, and South Africa. India has four points in as many matches with an NRR of 0.844, compared to South Africa’s five points from three games and its NRR of 2.772. Bangladesh, who is now in the third position, has also earned four points from three games but trails India due to their poor NRR of -1.533. Zimbabwe has three points from four games after their loss to the Dutch. The remaining two teams in the group, Netherlands (2 points), and Pakistan (2 points), are in sixth and fifth place, respectively.
At this stage in this group, South Africa is the most likely team to qualify as they have a very good NRR. A win against either Pakistan or the Netherlands will see them through. While for India to qualify they need to win both their games if they lose even 1, they would have to hope for other results to go their way. Bangladesh too can qualify if they win their last two games. While Pakistan’s chances of qualification are not in their hands because first they not only have to beat SA and the Tigers but also hope that India loses of its remaining two games by a big margin.
