India bid to keep last four hopes alive as NZ look to close in on semis berth

Mohammad Abdullah, Senior Sports Reporter
 
India, who seem to have reignited their campaign with Afghanistan romp, will look to replicate their performance against Scotland to keep their semis hopes alive in the T20 World Cup.

After losing their two opening games, which pushed them on the back foot completely, India bounced back to register their first win to remain in the hunt.

Misfiring Indian batsmen finally rose to the occasion and posted the highest total of the tournament against Afghanistan and went on to win with a big margin. Despite that, India have an uphill task ahead of them and their fate can be sealed by the results of the other teams.

There is still a lot to play for but India’s qualification will be a tricky proposition. India are still at the fourth spot with just two points and need to win both their matches with big margin to maintain the net run rate.

Should India win both their matches, they still have to wait for the other results to go in their favour. If Afghanistan can beat New Zealand, that too with the slimmest of margin, only then India will have a chance to move into the semis.

If New Zealand go on to win their remaining games, there is nothing that the hosts can do except to take return flight but if Afghanistan can spring a surprise, India have a chance.

In that case India, Afghanistan and New Zealand will be tied on six points each and net run rate will come into play. So, India would want Afghanistan to win but by the smallest margin so that their net run rate also does not improve marginally enough to take them through instead of paving the way for the hosts.

Due to a heavy loss against India, Afghanistan net run rate has dropped down considerably and hovering around 1.48, which is still quite higher than that of India.

New Zealand players celebrate fall of a wicket during their match against India. Courtesy: Twitter

India will take on Namibia in their last match after New Zealand would have already played theirs, so the hosts will be in the position to know what exactly they need to do.

Coming back to Friday’s game, Scotland should be an easy proposition for India, who seem to have found the rhythm finally after the rout of Afghanistan.

Indian have one of the best batting line-ups in the world with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul opening the innings and Virat Kohli, Rishab Pant and Hardik Pandya further consolidating it.

In bowling, a reliable Mohammad Shami seems to have found the rhythm and will spearhead the pace battery while Bumrah is expected a play a perfect foil once again.

An experienced Ravichandran Ashwin, who was brought into the side for mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, bowled a mesmerising spell to stake his claim in the fold.

He choked the flow of runs and returned with an impressive figure of 2-14 in his four overs.

On the other hand, Scotland, who put up a fighting show against New Zealand, will look hope for an upset victory to finish their campaign on winning note.

Meanwhile, New Zealand will bid to close in on a semi-final berth with a victory against Namibia. New Zealand have four points from their three games after winning two and losing one.

Kiwis are in duel with India and Afghanistan for a last four berth. Having beaten India in a round robin match they have an upper hand.

They will look to avoid the jitters of going into semi-final via run rate instead will look to win both their matches and punch their ticket in the semis.

Namibia are enjoying a fairytale run at the showpiece event. They defeated Ireland and the Netherlands in the first round and went on to stun Scotland for their first win on the biggest stage.

They are out of contention for the next round but still they have the potential to dent the hopes of the heavyweights with an upset win.