Good afternoon sports fans, here’s hoping you’re having a good day watching/listening to the England Men take on Pakistan men in the 2nd Test in Multan, I know I am!
Back across the Arabian Sea in UAE the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is in the final throws of the group stage, I thought it was worth having a round up of how things are finishing.
The teams that finish 1st and 2nd in the group qualify for the finals and in group A it’s been an Antipodean affair!
I have given Australia a fair bit of stick in these World Cup blogs but credit where credit is due, they’ve bossed this group! The Aussies have played four games for four wins and have a net run rate (NRR) miles ahead of the pack and as we will discuss later, that can really matter.
Looking forward to the next round, well you certainly can’t rule AUS out. The Matilda’s do have a couple of injury concerns however. Captain Alyssa Healy has a leg injury and is a major doubt for the semi final and luckless bowler Tayla Vlaeminck has dislocated her shoulder, ruling her out. To say Australia have depth in their squad is an understatement though, try not to feel too sorry for team Aus!
The second qualifying place in the group was a touch more complicated and exciting!
Going into group A’s final game, New Zealand Vs Pakistan – New Zealand, Pakistan and India were all still in the hunt.
The equations worked like this, If NZ won, they were through, no questioned asked. If Pakistan won by a certain margin then they were through on NNR but if Pakistan won but by a small margin then India would qualify, again thanks to good old NRR.
As you can see from the table, New Zealand did manage a victory over Pakistan and claim that second spot but it was a scrappy, scrappy performance. Poor shot selection gifted Pakistan 8 catching chances………unfortunately for PAK they managed to drop all those chances otherwise it could have been a very different story.
Regardless of the circumstances The White Ferns have made it and if you want to have your heart warmed, it’s worth finding a clip of the New Zealand bowler Eden Carson being asked how it feels to be a semifinalist………it’s lovely!
Over to Group B and for the England fans amongst you, there is some jeopardy.
As it stands England a top with 6 points and a healthy NRR, South Africa are 2nd also on 6 points and a very marginally less healthy NRR and crucially for them the lowest of the top 3. In 3rd position is West Indies with 4 points and a NRR and very slightly higher than SA but just ever so slightly lower than Englands.
At 3pm this afternoon England take on West Indies in the last game of the group to decide the qualifiers.
In all reality this game is a defacto Quarter Final. Ideally (from an English point of view) England will win the game and go through top on 8 points. That would mean SA would secure 2nd place on 6 points and Windies would be eliminated with Bangladesh and Scotland. However if West Indies win then all 3 teams would be on 6 points, then it comes down to NRR. All 3 sides NRR are very close, chances are if Windies win the game then it will drag Englands NNR below SA’s and that means Windies and SA would qualify 1 and 2……….England would be left packing.
Because ENG NRR is marginally higher than Windies then there is a very tight margin that they could lose and still come second but we’re talking a margin of 1 run or 1 wicket.
That’s quite a complicated way of saying, if like me, you’re minded to want England to qualify, they need to win, simples.
So after this afternoon the group stage will be done and dusted and we’ll know who’s facing Australia and New Zealand in the semifinals Thursday and Friday.
Until then, pray for England!
All the best,
Nick
All The Cricket 
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