The mega cricket showdown saw the 'mother of all rivalries' taking centre stage as Team India (IND) clashed with Pakistan (PAK) in Match 19 of the T20 World Cup 2024 in New York. Notably, after winning the toss, captain Babar Azam invited the Men In Blue to bat first. The decision turned out fantastic for the Green Shirts as they claimed openers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli rather cheaply.
However, the young stumper-batter Rishabh Pant took matters into his hands and played a sensible knock to keep Team India afloat. But some sensational bowling spells by Naseem Shah and Mohammad Amir led to India's batting unit collapsing like a deck of cards. As a result, India finished with a below-par score of 119/10.
In reply, Pakistan captain Babar Azam along with Mohammad Rizwan started cautiously but soon it was Jasprit Bumrah who got the breakthrough for India. However, Rizwan kept ticking the scoreboard in an attempt to take the game deep. But some tight spells by Mohammed Siraj and later on by Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja led Pakistan to ruin their run-a-ball chase equation. Later on, Bumrah yet again proved a match-winner as he got India back into the game by chipping in with wickets in the 19th over. This helped Arshdeep Singh to carry on the momentum and successfully defended 18 needed off the last over to seal the low-scoring thriller for India.
Going by current standings, Team India have moved up with four points under their belt by winning both their games. This has boosted their Net Run Rate (NRR) to +1.455. Following closely behind are the United States of America (USA) with as many points as the Men in Blue. Their Net Run Rate is currently +0.626. Besides, Canada take the third spot having defeated Ireland after losing the opening game to USA. As a result, Pakistan and Ireland currently are in the fourth and fifth spots and they are yet to open their account in the points tally.
Also Read: T20 World Cup 2024: IND vs PAK, Match 19 Highlights
Now the bigger question is- what will Pakistan need to do to stay in the hunt for Super 8 round qualification and where does India stand after trumping their archrivals?
What Pakistan need to do to qualify for the T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 round?
Team Pakistan now will need to depend on other teams along with performing exceptionally well in terms of Net Run Rate (NRR). To qualify ahead for the Super 8 stage, the Green Shirts first need to win the remainder of the group stage games and then hope that USA loses to India and Ireland.
This will mean that the US will not be able to claim six points. Interestingly, if Ireland manages to beat the USA, then this will give an outside chance for Pakistan to win their games by big margins to have a better run rate than India or USA to leapfrog one of them to enter through to the Super 8 round of the T20 World Cup 2024. Otherwise, Pakistan are already staring down the barrel and even if they win all the games they are still most likely to crash out of the World Cup from the group stage itself.
While speaking of Team India, they have already taken the pole spot and will need just one more match to remain group toppers. Hence if they beat the USA on June 12, they will still have a game against Canada to play. But beating the American side will nearly ensure their berth in the Super 8 rounds.
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