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How India can still qualify for Asia Cup 2022 final despite losing to Pakistan in Super 4 stage
India and Pakistan can still face in the summit clash in Dubai on September 11. It will be their third meeting as the two had also squared off against each other last Sunday (August 28), where India defeated Pakistan by five wickets.
Mohammad Rizwan hit an attacking 71 as Pakistan beat India by five wickets in a final-over ‘Super 4’ contest in the T20 Asia Cup on Sunday. Chasing 182 for the win, Pakistan reached the target with one ball to spare, as Rizwan put on a crucial 73-run stand with Mohammad Nawaz, who scored 42.
Rizwan fell in the 17th over after scoring his second successive fifty but Khushdil Shah and Asif Ali took Pakistan home in last over. Reprieved after Arshdeep Singh dropped a sitter at short third, Asif hit a six and two fours before falling with two balls left, leaving Iftikhar Ahmed to score the remaining two runs.
India and Pakistan can still face in the summit clash in Dubai on September 11. It will be their third meeting as the two had also squared off against each other last Sunday (August 28), where India defeated Pakistan by five wickets.
Clubbed alongside Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in the round-robin format of the 'Super 4', India and Pakistan are fancied to finish top-two finish to set up yet another Sunday showdown. Sri Lanka and Pakistan have won one match each, which means India have to win the remaining two games against Sri Lanka (September 6) and Afghanistan (September 8). India winning their next two games will also eliminate Afghanistan from the tournament.
Top-two to be decided by Net Run Rate (NRR)?
If India win their remaining two games and Pakistan beat Sri Lanka, the island nation will be knocked out of the competition. But if Sri Lanka win their next two games, the Net Run Rate (NRR) comes into the picture. India have to win next two matches with big margins to qualify for the final. They currently have an NRR of -0.126, with Sri Lanka (+0.589) and Pakistan (+0.126) ahead in the points table with two points each.
After Pakistan's win on Sunday, Rizwan said that his teammates had talked about the Indo-Pak contest being a "best of three-match series" between the arch-rivals. Political tension has led to a halt in bilateral series between the two countries for nearly a decade now.
"Fans from both countries anticipate a third meeting in next week's final. We have jokingly said among ourselves that it's a best of three-match series (between India and Pakistan)," said Rizwan.
For India, Virat Kohli hit 60 off 44 balls before being run out in the final over. His crucial innings helped India survive a middle-order stutter and post a competitive 181-7 after being put in to bat first. The former India skipper reached his 32nd half-century in 36 deliveries with a six off paceman Mohammad Hasnain.
Earlier, India captain Rohit Sharma and his opening partner KL Rahul put on 54 runs briskly in the first six overs of the powerplay. But Rohit went back after scoring 28 off 16 balls in the sixth over. Rahul also perished in the next over and Mohammad Nawaz then removed the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav for 13.
Kohli kept the scoreboard ticking as Rishabh Pant was out for 14 and Hardik Pandya departed for a two-ball duck. In the end, Ravi Bishnoi finished off the innings with two boundaries as Fakhar Zaman faltered twice in the deep, which included a dropped catch that went past the boundary fence.
