There is only one spot left for a semi-final berth in the T20 World Cup 2016 from Group 2, and three strong teams in India, Australia and Pakistan are in the race. New Zealand have already qualified for the semi-finals, and Australia and Pakistan will now clash on Friday night at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium in Mohali in order to strengthen their claim for the third round of the T20 World Cup 2016. Both Australia and Pakistan have been erratic and far off from their best, but they will be fired up to put a strong performance in all departments to win this game and keep their hopes alive.
The pressure will be more on Pakistan, as this will be their last match in the group stage of the T20 World Cup. Pakistan were replaced by India at the second spot in the T20 World Cup 2016 points table when the tournament hosts trumped Bangladesh by one run in a thriller, but still, Pakistan can move up with their Net Run Rate being better than India’s. After three games each, India have 4 points and a NRR of -0.54, whereas Pakistan have 2 points and +0.25 as their NRR.
Australia, on the other hand, have dropped to the fourth spot with one loss to New Zealand and a narrow win over Bangladesh giving them a NRR of +0.10, which is a good sign for them. Another advantage that Steven Smith and company have is that they have two matches left in the group stage, compared to one each for India and Pakistan.
But Australia face these two Asian rivals within a span of three days, which means, in a format wherein they struggle on almost all fronts, they will have to beat both Pakistan (on Friday) and India (on Sunday) to make it to the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2016. Bangladesh, the fifth team of the group, have already crashed out of the tournament after their third straight defeat in the second round.
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