The highly anticipated India v Pakistan clash at the T20 World Cup lived up to its billing as a tense battle until the 20th over of the second innings gave fans everything they could have hoped for.
While batting proved a hazardous task once again on a treacherous New York pitch, top-class bowling and a few enterprising innings made for an epic encounter that went right down to the wire.
In the end, India managed to defend a below par-score of 119. Jasprit Bumrah was immaculate with the ball once again, finishing with 3-14 in a spell of the highest quality. He received good support from all-rounder Hardik Pandya (2-24), who picked up the dangerous Fakhar Zaman, and Mohammad Siraj, who gave away just 19 runs from his four overs.
Pakistan, who were right on course at 80-3 after 14 overs, stumbled to 113-7. Fast bowler Naseem Shah, who had bowled brilliantly in the first innings, was seen wiping away his tears in the end; he even hit successive boundaries in the final over but the target was just beyond reach.
India thus made it two wins out of two games, while Babar Azam's team have now lost both their opening games; they lost to co-hosts USA in the Super Over in Dallas.
Can Pakistan still qualify for Super Eight stage?
The top two teams from each of the four groups will qualify for the Super Eight stage. As things stand, India and USA are on top with two wins and four points apiece. Pakistan are languishing near the bottom of the five-team Group A.
After such a poor start, Pakistan face an uphill battle in the qualification race. Not only do they need to win their remaining two games - against Canada (Tuesday) and Ireland (Sunday) - they need other results to go in their favour as well.
Firstly, Pakistan need to win their matches by a good margin to improve their net run rate, which is -0.15 at the moment. Then the calculations begin. For Pakistan to qualify, India must win their remaining matches against USA and Canada, while Ireland must also defeat USA. In this scenario, India will top the group with eight points while Pakistan and USA will be tied on four points each in second spot. Then it will be down to net run rate between the co-hosts and Pakistan.
If India win one more game and USA defeat Ireland on Friday, it will be all over for Pakistan in the group stage.
What about England in Group B?
The 2022 champions are in an equally perilous position. Their opening match against Scotland was washed out and they then lost to ODI and Test champions Australia by 36 runs.
That has placed England second last in the group with one point and a horror net run rate of -1.8. In the group, Scotland have risen to the top of the table after five points from three games with two wins and a washout. More importantly, their net run rate is a stupendous 2.164.
England can rise to a maximum of five points if they win their next two matches against Oman (Thursday) and Namibia (Saturday). However, their net run rate is so far behind that of Scotland, they will need to win by massive margins in both games to cover the gap, and also hope the Scots lose badly against Australia.
If Australia defeat Namibia and then lose to Scotland, England will be out of the competition.
