Pakistan now faces an uphill battle in their match against England, as they strive for an unlikely qualification scenario.
Pakistan had pinned their hopes on Sri Lanka to secure their spot in the World Cup semifinals, a feat they hadn't achieved in 12 years. However, New Zealand's dominant performance against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru on Thursday virtually eliminated Pakistan from the tournament. With this setback, Pakistan now faces an uphill battle in their match against England, as they strive for an unlikely qualification scenario.
Although Pakistan still has a mathematical chance of reaching the semifinals, they must surpass New Zealand's impressive net run rate of +0.743. To achieve this, Pakistan needs to defeat England by a monumental margin. If Pakistan bats first at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday, they must outscore Jos Buttler's men by 287 runs or more. However, if Pakistan is put to bowl first, their task becomes nearly impossible, as they would have to chase down the target within an improbable number of overs. To put it simply, they would have approximately 3.4 overs to chase down a target of 150, or 5.2 overs for a target of 250, and so on.
In anticipation of the highly-anticipated match, Sehwag utilized social media to cleverly taunt Pakistan, wishing them farewell and a safe journey back home.
“Pakistan Zindabhaag! Have a safe flight back home,” he wrote.
Sehwag also criticized Sri Lanka, highlighting their performance against New Zealand where they were dismissed for a mere 171 runs, comparing it to Pakistan's style of play.
“Pakistan ki khaas baat hai ki jis team ko Pakistan support karti hai, woh team Pakistan ki tarah khelne lagti hai (One special thing about Pakistan is that whichever team they support that side begins to play like Sri Lanka). Sorry Sri Lanka.”
If Pakistan fails to advance, New Zealand will secure a spot in the knockout stage, setting up a highly anticipated rematch against India. This clash would be reminiscent of their thrilling encounter in Manchester during the 2019 tournament, where India suffered a defeat that also marked the final international appearance of the legendary MS Dhoni. On the other hand, second-placed South Africa will face off against Australia in the second semifinal.
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