Dubai 7th September : India, after losing both of their Asia Cup Super Four games -in the final against Pakistan as well as Sri Lanka — are near the point of an early exit , having beginning the competition on a high note with an exciting win over the Babar Azam-led rivals in the group stage in the UAE.Rohit Sharma’s team lost another game that was close at the Dubai International Stadium to Sri Lanka by six wickets with only one ball left and are currently third, just behind Super Four leaders Sri Lanka (4 points from two games) and Pakistan (2 points from one game).
The chances of getting into the final depend on their winning Afghanistan by a significant margin and hoping Pakistan are able to win both matches — against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan -which is highly unlikely.
Sri Lanka, by beating India thanks to the help of excellent half-centuries from openers Pathum Nissanka and wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis on Tuesday night they are the only team in Pakistan to face in the Super Four.
Although they are in the final after two victories (and four points) they’ll need to defeat Pakistan or at least hope that Afghanistan will lose one of their remaining gamesto either India or Pakistan.
Even if both of the possibilities are against the Islanders they are able to maintain a higher net run rate (NRR) than either Pakistan or Afghanistan and still make the final.
That means that the team is in the best position to reach the final.
Dasun Shanaka’s side could be able to qualify for the final in the early hours of Wednesday should Afghanistan be defeated by Pakistan.With their healthy NRR of 0.351 that’s an enormous effort from both Pakistan (0.126 NRR) and Afghanistan (-0.589 NRR) to overtake Sri Lanka, according to ICC.
Pakistan is in an excellent chance of qualifying in the event that they win both remaining matches against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, or win at least one game and end with more NRR than either Afghanistan or Sri Lanka, or further in the event that they lose both, they must India to defeat Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, and hope that their NRR is higher than Sri Lanka or Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s thrilling victory against India on Sunday (Sept 4) has placed the team in the control of their destiny with two victories in the two remaining Super Four games ensuring they can qualify for the final.Babar Azam’s team can be able to qualify in spite of losing one or both games, provided they maintain a higher NRR than Afghanistan and India.
Afghanistan as the most experienced team in the tournament, but capable of surprise and will need to beat both Pakistan and India — a challenging job — and maintain an improved NRR than Pakistan or Sri Lanka.
They could be qualified if they defeat either India or Pakistan.This would also require Pakistan falling to Sri Lanka and Afghanistan finishing with an NRR higher than both teams.
Afghanistan’s defeat to Sri Lanka and a poor NRR of -0.589 has made life challenging for Mohammad Nabi’s squad, but it’s not a daunting task.They may still be able to play in the final If they beat Sri Lanka in their remaining two matches and reduce their negative NRR.
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