New Delhi. Cricket is a game of possibilities. Now take the T20 World Cup. There is a strong possibility that India will play the semi-finals in the T20 World Cup. There are also equations that take Australia and Afghanistan to the semi-finals and eliminate India. Let us know what are those equations that eliminate India or Australia or Afghanistan from the semi-finals.
Before understanding the equation of the semi-finals of T20 World Cup 2024, let’s take a look at the points table. Group-1 has India, Australia, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. All four have played two matches each. India is at number one with 4 points after winning both its matches. Its net run rate is (2.425). Australia and Afghanistan are at number two and third respectively with 2-2 points. Australia (2.223) is at number two in the group due to better net run rate. Afghanistan’s net run rate is -0.650. Bangladesh (0) is at number four. The top-2 teams from each group will enter the semi-finals. Now every team in Group-1 has to play one match each.
1. Afghanistan benefits from India’s victory
In Group-1, India will now play against Australia and Afghanistan will play against Bangladesh. If the Indian team wins against Australia on June 24, it will directly reach the semi-finals. This will directly benefit Afghanistan, which will face Bangladesh. Afghanistan will only have to defeat Bangladesh to reach the semi-finals.
2. If Australia and Bangladesh win…
If Australia defeats India and then Bangladesh also wins its match the next day, the equation for the semi-finals will become easy. If this happens, Australia will enter the semi-finals at the second position with 4 points. Bangladesh will be out of the tournament even after winning and Afghanistan will be out after losing. India will go to the semi-finals by being at the first position in the group.
3. If India and Bangladesh win…
If India defeats Australia, it will enter the semi-finals with 6 points. After this, if Bangladesh team defeats Afghanistan, it will get 2 points. Then Australia, Afghanistan and Bangladesh will have 2 points each and the team with better net run rate will play the semi-finals.
4. If Australia and Afghanistan win…
This is the equation that can eliminate India from the race for the semi-finals. The interesting thing is that this is an equation that does not seem very difficult. History is a witness that the Australian team has defeated India many times and Afghanistan has also defeated Bangladesh. If the Indian team loses on 24 June and Bangladesh loses on 25 June, then Australia and Afghanistan will have 4 points each. India also has the same number of points. Then out of these three teams, the two teams with better run rate will qualify for the semi-finals.
5. How many runs does Australia-Afghanistan need to win
If we assume that in Group-1, Indian team loses to Australia and Bangladesh team loses to Afghanistan, then what will be the difference that will decide the race to the semi-finals. The answer is simple. If Australia defeats India by 41 runs, then its net run rate will be the best. Then it will leave India behind and reach the first position in the point table. The next day Afghanistan and Bangladesh will play a match. If Afghanistan wins this match by 83 runs, then it will also achieve a better net run rate than India. That is, if Australia wins the next match by 41 runs and Afghanistan by 83 runs, then India will be out of the race to the semi-finals.
Tags: ICC T20 world cup, india vs australia, T20 World Cup, Team India
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 23, 2024, 14:57 IST