As the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 nears its business end, the four semi-finalists of the tournament are almost complete. Table-toppers India, second placed South Africa, Australia and New Zealand (mathematically) are in the knock-out stages of the marquee tournament. As we near Diwali 2023, the festival of lights, the iconic structure of Mumbai, the Gateway Of India, was lit up with the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 promotional video that featured top cricketing stars from all the participating nations. (Match Blog | Scorecard | Full Coverage)
Talking of the semi-finalists, Pakistan take on England in their final Round Robin fixture on Saturday. New Zealand's net run-rate received a massive boost with their five wicket-win over Sri Lanka and in turn ended Pakistan's semifinal hopes. The 1992 champions though need to beat England by an improbable margin. New Zealand's NRR is +0.743 while Pakistan's is +0.036, and for the Babar Azam-led side to eclipse the former to qualify as the fourth side, it has to win by around 287 runs batting first. While chasing, Pakistan need to win with 284 balls to spare. That is an impractical task.
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Talking about his side in a pre-match press conference, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said his side's defeats to Afghanistan and South Africa have affected them in the tournament.
"We should have won our matches against South Africa and Afghanistan because of which we are at this stage. We will try our best to finish on a good note. You never know this is cricket," Babar said of the match against England.
"You cannot say that it is the fault of bowling, fielding, or batting. As a team we could not execute. We cannot say that we got so many runs in bowling or lost runs in fielding. As a team we did not execute the plan or play as per the demand -- that includes bowling, batting, and fielding."
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Pakistan take on England in match 44 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday.
