NEW DELHI: Defending champions Australia were at their brutal best on Friday as they demolished Pakistan by nine wickets in their third Group A game at the Women’s T20 World Cup in Dubai.
After restricting Pakistan to a lowly 82 all out, the Aussies stormed past the finish line in just 11 overs, grabbing their third straight win of the tournament.
With their 14th consecutive win at the cricketing extravaganza, Australia maintained their top spot in Group A which also has India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka alongside Pakistan.
The win for Australia has now all but secured their semi-final spot from the group. With three wins in three matches, Australia now have a mighty impressive NRR (net run rate) of +2.786.
Before the game against Pakistan, Australia had a NRR of +2.524 which went a notch higher after their lop-sided win Friday evening.
The Australia win comes as good news for India as it has significantly hurt Pakistan’s chances of advancing further.
Before the Australia vs Pakistan game, India and Australia were at 4 points each and Pakistan and New Zealand were at two points each.
The heavy defeat against Australia pushed Pakistan to the fourth place in Group A, with New Zealand creeping up to the third spot.
India — second on the table and at 4 points — will now have to win their final league match against Australia. Pakistan’s loss today also means that India will now have only New Zealand as their main challenger for the second semi-final berth.
New Zealand have 2 matches remaining against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. While India have one match remaining.
Considering Australia are already through, India win in their final group game will mean they end up at 6 points. To challenge India for the semis berth, New Zealand will have to win their both remaining matches and with decent margins so that they improve their NRR.
Currently India have a NRR of +0.576 and New Zealand have an NRR of -0.050.
For New Zealand to pip India for a semis berth, they have to better their NRR along with winning their two games. If India win their final group game and New Zealand win their two matches, the team with better NRR goes through as both will have 6 points each.
In case India lose their final group game and New Zealand win both their matches, New Zealand go through along with Australia.
In the third scenario, if India lose and New Zealand win and lose one each of their remaining two matches, both teams will be tied at 4 points each and that’s where the NRR will come into play again.
So, India will have to ensure that even if they lose their final match against Australia, they do not lose it with a big margin as it will hurt their NRR badly. In this case, if New Zealand finishes with one win and one defeat and Pakistan also win their final group game, then all the three teams will be tied at 4 points each. The team which has the best NRR out of the three will advance.
Sri Lanka are already out of the semis race but they can also help India’s chances for semis qualification, if they manage to beat New Zealand in their final game.