India's eight-wicket loss to New Zealand on Sunday has left their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of 2021 ICC T20 World Cup hanging by a thread. Having lost both their matches so far, India sit fifth in Group 2 with 0 points and a net run rate of -1.609.
Pakistan have all but assured their place in the semis having won all three of their matches with only matches against minnows Scotland and Namibia left.
Afghanistan, with four points in three matches, and New Zealand with two points in two matches have a better chance of reaching the semis than India.
Namibia have two points from two matches having beaten Scotland while the Scotts are last in the group having lost both their matches.
Namibia and Scotland look unlikely to qualify for the semi-finals at the expense of Afghanistan, New Zealand and India.
New Zealand are favourites to qualify for the semi-finals while India have an outside chance to make it if results go their way.
Here's how India, Afghanistan and New Zealand can qualify for the semi-finals
India
Points: 0
NRR: -1.609
Remaining Matches
vs Afghanistan on November 3
vs Scotland on November 5
vs Namibia on November 8
India need to win all three of their remaining matches with a huge margin if they are to improve on their NRR which has taken a hit after their 10-wicket and 8-wicket loss to Pakistan and New Zealand respectively.
Even if India crush Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia to improve their NRR, they need both Afghanistan and New Zealand to lose at least one of their remaining matches.
In this scenario, all three teams will finish on six points with the NRR deciding who will take the second spot in the group.
Should India win all of their matches, they would want Afghanistan to do them a favour and beat New Zealand on November 7 by a close margin. Should that happen, India would know by how big a margin they would need to beat Namibia in their last match on November 8 to leapfrog Afghanistan and New Zealand via NRR.
New Zealand
Points: 2
NRR: 0.765
Remaining Matches
vs Scotland on November 3
vs Namibia on November 5
vs Afghanistan on November 7
The Kiwis have put themselves in a good position to qualify for the semis after beating India. Their remaining three matches are against relatively weaker teams in Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia. Even if they lose one of these three matches, New Zealand could lose out to India or Afghanistan depending on their results.
Afghanistan
Points: 4
NRR: 3.097
Remaining Matches
vs India on November 3
vs New Zealand on November 7
Afghanistan have put themselves in a very good position NRR-wise thanks to their 130-run and 60-run wins against Scotland and Namibia respectively.
If they beat both India and New Zealand, they will qualify for the semis. Beating India would put Afghanistan in a good position for their final match against New Zealand. If they lose to India and beat New Zealand or vice versa, the second spot will be decided by NRR.
