Pakistan recorded their first win in the ongoing T20 World Cup on Tuesday with a seven-wicket defeat to Canada. Babar Azam’s team began their campaign with consecutive losses to the USA and India and are now aiming to qualify for the Super 8 stage.
Pakistan is third in Group A with two points from three matches, behind second-placed United States (four points) and ahead of fourth-placed Canada (two points). Pakistan has performed better than all the teams in the group.
What would an American defeat to India mean for Pakistan?
The USA’s defeat to India with 10 balls to spare makes the calculation of net run rate irrelevant for Group A. Pakistan have a better net run rate than the USA with +0.191, ahead of the co-hosts’ +0.127.
Pakistan will advance to the Super 8 stage if they beat Ireland in a Super Over and Ireland beats the US. If Pakistan beats Ireland and the US loses to Pakistan, they will advance to the Super 8 stage. The margin of victory doesn’t matter. On the other hand, the US needs to score at least one point against Ireland or Pakistan drop one point to advance to the Super 8 stage.
Pakistan’s biggest concern: Weather
The biggest concern for Pakistan will be the weather in Lauderhill for these crucial matches, as if one of the matches is cancelled, the US will advance to the Super Eights.
Sunday’s match against Pakistan in Florida is expected to be mostly cloudy with a chance of rain accompanied by thunderstorms, according to Accuweather. Meanwhile, Friday’s match between Ireland and the USA is expected to be mostly cloudy with showers and heavy thunderstorms, according to Accuweather. There is also a chance of flooding issues.
Pakistan will face Ireland on Sunday and will be looking to win, while the US vs Ireland match is scheduled for Friday. After winning the crucial match against Canada, Babar said, “It’s good for us. We needed this win. Credit to the team. We started well and took wickets with the new ball. We had the NRR in mind. The first six overs are very important here. We will assess after six overs. After that we tried to take on the spinners. We will go in with the same mindset. The conditions in Florida should also get better from here. We played the same shots. So it was annoying. But we will do our best.”
