Today both matches of group-1 between Afghanistan and Ireland, England and Australia have got abandoned without a ball being bowled due to heavy rain at Melbourne. With teams like Afghanistan, Ireland, England and Australia already playing 3 matches has made the points table even more open for all teams to qualify for semi-finals of T20 WC 2022.
India is most likely to end as topper of Group 2 in points table unless they lose to South African team. Here in this article, we will have a look at various possible scenarios of which team has the possibility to face India in semi-final match of T20 World Cup 2022.
Remaining schedule of Group-1 in T20 WC 2022:
- NZ vs SL, 29th Oct in Sydney
- AUS vs IRE, 31st Oct in Brisbane
- AFG vs SL, 1st Nov in Brisbane
- ENG vs NZ, 1st Nov in Brisbane
- NZ vs IRE, 4th Nov in Adelaide
- AUS vs AFG, 4th Nov in Adelaide
- ENG vs SL, 5th Nov in Sydney
Group-1 Points table of T20 WC 2022:
1. New Zealand - 3 Pts (NRR: 4.45)
2. England - 3 Pts ( NRR : 0.23)
3.Ireland - 3 Pts (NRR : -1.17)
4. Australia - 3 Pts (NRR : - 1.55)
5. Sri Lanka - 2 Pts (NRR : 0.45)
6. Afghanistan - 2 Pts (NRR : -0.62)
Sri Lanka and New Zealand alone have played only 2 games, while rest of the teams have played 3 matches.
Assuming that the remaining games will not get affected by rain:
- Afghanistan will face Sri Lanka and Australia in their upcoming fixture. Maximum they can get to is 6 points but defeating powerhouse teams like Sri Lanka and Australia isn't an easy task and thus they aren't expected to play semi-finals.
- Sri Lanka have to face tough opponents like New Zealand and England plus they will get a game against Afghanistan. Maximum they can touch is 8 points and if Sri Lanka manage to win either one game against New Zealand/England, then they get 3 wins and have an outside chance to enter semi-finals.
- Australia have two easy opponents in the form of Ireland and Afghanistan in their next two games but they can't underestimate them as we have seen in ENG vs IRE (or) PAK vs ZIM game. They can make use of their home advantage completely and could try to reach 7 points easily unless an upset happens.
- Ireland will face Australia and New Zealand in their remaining two games. Ireland can surprise any team on the given day like they beat England before but it will be an uphill task for them to enter semi-final.
- England will face two tough opponents in the form of New Zealand and Sri Lanka in their next two games. England winning both their matches and reaching 7 points isn't an easy task comparing to Australian side, hence we will have to wait and see how much they can reach out of their potential 7 points.
- New Zealand will face Sri Lanka, England and Ireland in their upcoming games and they are expected to win atleast two out of their three remaining games thus they can also reach 7 points like Australia and qualify for knockout stage of T20 WC 2022.
Looking at above scenarios it is easy for Australia and New Zealand to reach 7 points when compared to other teams in the Group. Hence, these two teams will likely qualify for Semi-finals of T20 WC 2022.
NRR (New Zealand) > NRR (Australia) hence Australia will come 2nd in points table and face India most likely in semi-finals. If India lose to South Africa and come 2nd in points table then they are likely to face New Zealand in semi-finals.
Note:- England and Sri Lanka also have a chance to enter knockout stage but considering the opponents which New Zealand and Australia faces, they should make it most likely unless some major upset happens.
