T20 World Cup 2022: How can Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals of the World Cup?

Under pressure to stay alive in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, Pakistan came up with an excellent performance to defeat South Africa by 33 runs (D/L method) in the Super 12 match in Sydney on Thursday, November 3.

Batting first after winning the toss, Pakistan recovered from 43/4 to put up an impressive total of 185/9. Iftikhar Ahmed (51 off 35) and Shadab Khan (52 off 22) came up with wonderful knocks to lift Pakistan out of trouble. Mohammad Haris (28 off 11) and Mohammad Nawaz (28 off 22) also chipped in with useful contributions.

Shaheen Afridi (3/14) and Shadab (2/14) then shone with the ball as Pakistan held South Africa to 108/9 as the Proteas were set a revised target of 142 in 14 overs.

Afridi dismissed Quinton de Kock (0) and Rilee Rossouw (seven) before returning to claim the scalp of Heinrich Klaasen (15). Shadab sent back Temba Bavuma (36) and Aiden Markram (20) in his first over to cripple South Africa’s chase.

Pakistan’s T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final qualification scenario explained

Despite the comprehensive win over South Africa, Pakistan still have only slim hopes of making the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2022. Following their triumph on Thursday, they now have four points from as many matches and are in third position in the Group 2 points table.

Their last Super 12 match will be against Bangladesh on Sunday, November 6. They need to win the match to finish the round with six points, and must also try to boost their net run rate as much as possible.

If India lose to Zimbabwe, then they will stay on six points. Also, if South Africa get stunned by the Netherlands in their last Super 12 match, the Proteas will finish with five points. In that case, India and Pakistan will go through as the top two from the group. If both India and South Africa win their respective games, they will qualify with eight and seven points respectively, and Pakistan will be knocked out.

There is one more scenario to consider. If South Africa’s last match against the Netherlands gets abandoned due to rain and Pakistan beat Bangladesh, both teams will be tied on six points. In that case, Babar Azam and Co. will finish higher than South Africa courtesy of having more wins in the Super 12 round.

So mathematically, Pakistan can still make it to the top two. But the losses to India and Zimbabwe mean that they also have to depend on other results to go their way.