If Pakistan qualify for the 2023 World Cup semi-finals, where will the knockout match be held?
Australia's jailbreak win over a dominating Afghanistan team has saved Pakistan and New Zealand from seeing their 2023 World Cup semi-final chances dwindle before their eyes. Not many would have expected this line to be written in a news story at this stage but well, that's the kind of tournament we've had.
Now Australia have qualified and are tied with South Africa at 12 points. They are confirmed to finish second or third in the league stage. This means they'll meet in the second semi-final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on November 16.
India will finish first and the other three teams are in straight contention for fourth. The Netherlands can also make it but they only have an outside chance.
For some fans following the World Cup, Australia's win only means one thing - Pakistan increased prospects of facing neighbors (some call them rivals though they haven't lived true to the name) India in the first semi-finals.
Originally, the first semi-final (between the first and fourth-placed teams) was slated to be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. That'll still happen if either New Zealand, Afghanistan or the Netherlands qualify. However, if Pakistan qualify, India and Pakistan will play the semi-final at the Eden Gardens again.
"If India qualify for the semifinals, they will play in Mumbai unless playing against Pakistan, in which case they will play in Kolkata," an ICC release had said before the match.
As per the ICC rules, the World Cup host nation has permission to decide the venue for its semi-final match. India have chosen Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. However, due to India's political relations with Pakistan, the Men in Green have got special permission to play their semi-finals at Eden Gardens even if the opponents are the hosts.
How can Pakistan qualify for the 2023 World Cup semi-finals?
For Pakistan to qualify, they'd need to reach either 10 points by winning against England on November 11 and Afghanistan and New Zealand to be defeated by South Africa and Sri Lanka, respectively, before that.
If either Afghanistan or New Zealand win their matches, Pakistan will have a clear equation for the margin of victory they'd need to go ahead of them on net run rate (NRR) despite being equal on points.
What if all of them lose their matches? In that case, Afghanistan's NRR is already lower than Pakistan's. Sri Lanka will have to defeat New Zealand by an unforeseen margin for the Kiwis' current NRR of +0.398 to go below Pakistan's.