India's hopes of progressing to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup took another hit on Sunday after Virat Kohli's men suffered an eight-wicket defeat at the hands of New Zealand in Dubai.
It was their second defeat inside a week in the emirate following last week's historic 10-wicket loss to Pakistan.
Why are India in danger of not qualifying for the T20 World Cup semi-finals?
The defeat to New Zealand means the pre-tournament favourites are a long way from booking a place in the semis.
The fact New Zealand reached their target of 111 with 33 balls left meant India also suffered another blow to their net run-rate.
India are winless in Group 2, propped up only by Scotland beneath them, with a run-rate of -1.609.
Given that Pakistan have virtually qualified for the semi-final stage after beating India, New Zealand, and Afghanistan, there’s only one spot remaining from Group 2.
Afghanistan are second having won two games out of their three so far. Pakistan top the group with six points.
Victory for Kane Williamson's men moved the Black Caps up to third with two points from two games and a better net run-rate than Namibia, who are fourth with two points.
What do India need to do to qualify?
Simply put: India need to win their three remaining games to be in with a shout of qualifying for the knockout round.
India next face Afghanistan, followed by Namibia, and Scotland. In particular, the boys in blue will have to beat the Afghans by a big margin to reverse their poor net run rate.
Even if they do pull off a hat-trick of wins, India will also need other results to go in their favour.
Kohli's men need New Zealand to lose at least two out of their three remaining group games, against Scotland, Namibia and Afghanistan, and will also need Namibia to lose any two of their remaining matches.
India’s remaining fixtures
v Afghanistan, Abu Dhabi – November 3
v Scotland, Dubai – November 5
v Namibia, Dubai – November 8
India v Pakistan ratings
-
INDIA RATINGS: KL Rahul – 3. (3 runs) Unable to keep out a hooping inswinger from the irrepressible Shaheen Afridi. AFP -
Rohit Sharma – 0. (nought) Trapped by an unplayable yorker by Shaheen off the first ball he faced. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Virat Kohli – 8. (57) Staved off Shaheen with some of the most extraordinary shots imaginable. It wasn't enough. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Suryakumar Yadav – 4. (11) Attempted to counter after Shaheen’s stunning burst, but fell straight after to Hasan Ali. AFP -
Rishabh Pant – 7. (39) Helped rebuild the innings with a stand worth 53 with his captain. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Ravindra Jadeja - 6 (13, 0-28) Battled but could not break the shackles with the bat, and no joy with the ball. AP -
Hardik Pandya – 6. (11) Lucky twice against Shaheen, then swished away as the situation required. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 5. (0-25) Came into the tournament under a cloud, and that will not dissipate after this. AP -
Mohammed Shami – 3. (0-43) Savaged by the irrepressible openers of Pakistan, and he looked thoroughly miserable. AFP -
Jasprit Bumrah - 7. (0-22) Pakistan’s openers must have been in good nick: they kept out the best Bumrah had to offer. AFP -
Varun Chakaravarthy - 4. (0-33) A World Cup debut to forget for India’s IPL find. Reuters -
PAKISTAN RATINGS: Mohammed Rizwan – 9.5. (79 not out) Brilliance of his catch to dismiss Yadav was only bettered by his batting effort. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Babar Azam – 9. (68 not out) Led with poise and nous, and batted in the customary princely fashion. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Fakhar Zaman – NA. Not required to bat. AFP -
Mohammed Hafeez – 7. (0-12) Sent down two useful overs which maintained the pressure, then not needed with the bat. AP -
Shoaib Malik – NA. Not required to bat. AFP -
Asif Ali – NA. Not required to bat. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Imad Wasim – 7. (0-10) Thrifty enough, but only given half his allocation of overs. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Shadab Khan – 8. (1-22) Removed Pant just as he was setting up a late assault, and went at a rate of 5.5. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Hasan Ali – 6. (2-44) Expensive, as he had been in the South Africa warm up, but got the wickets of Yadav and Jadeja. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Shaheen Afridi – 9.5. (3-31) Spellbinding all the way till his last ball, which went no-ball four, then four overthrows. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Haris Rauf – 8. (1-25) Going at just 6.25 was impressive given the overs he was tasked with bowling. Chris Whiteoak / The National
