The Indian team defeated Scotland on Friday to stay alive in the tournament and have a chance at making the semifinals of the ongoing T20 World Cup. There are two scenarios in which Virat Kohli’s men can qualify for the knockout stages.
After losing the first two matches against Pakistan and New Zealand, the Men in Blue’s fate was out of their hands. They began to rely on how Afghanistan and the Kiwis perform in their matches. With just one more round of matches left in Group 2, here are the scenarios in which India can qualify.
India reliant on Afghanistan defeating New Zealand
The Afghans are the Indians’ closest friends now and the whole country will be backing Mohammad Nabi and co. to pull through against the fancied Kiwis. A win for Afghanistan will mean that New Zealand and Afghanistan finish on six points each and a net run rate that is likely to be lesser than India’s. Considering the spin-duo of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman are fit to go, the Afghans have a great opportunity of denying the Kiwis a win that will guarantee them a spot in the semis.
India needs to defeat Namibia by a good margin
If things go to plan in the above-mentioned game, then Kohli’s men will have to defeat Namibia in their final group game, and that too by a comfortable margin to ensure their net run rate doesn’t drop below that of the Kiwis or the Afghans. At the moment, India has a net run rate of +1.619 thanks to the Scotland demolition. NZ has +1.277 and Afghans have +1.481. No matter what happens, a tense finish is on the cards. So, a loss for NZ and a win for India will mean all 3 teams – Ind, NZ, and AFG finish with six points each and it will boil down to the net run rate.
The Kiwis will take on Afghanistan on November 7, Sunday, following which India will play against Namibia on November 8, Monday, which will also be the last Super 12 game.