T20 World Cup 2024: T20 World Cup 2024 is getting more interesting as it progresses. The tournament is being dominated by teams called weak or small. On the other hand, the teams that were called favourites at the beginning of the tournament seem to be on the verge of being eliminated from the group stage. One of the big teams that is going to be eliminated, New Zealand, seems to be at the top. After losing both the opening matches, the team has very little chance of making it to the Super-8. On the other hand, Afghanistan seems to be a strong contender for the Super-8.Â
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Teams of New Zealand and Afghanistan are present in Group-C. West Indies present in the same group has qualified for Super-8 by winning the first three matches. Now only one team is left to qualify in the group. Afghanistan is at second place with 4 points in the points table of the group. New Zealand is at the bottom i.e. at the fifth place without opening the account of victory. Apart from this, Uganda is at third place and Papua New Guinea is at fourth place. Uganda has won one match, while Papua New Guinea has also not opened its account yet.Â
New Zealand will need help from AfghanistanÂ
Now New Zealand will need help from Afghanistan to keep its hopes of qualification alive. On the other hand, Afghanistan can be the team that will eliminate New Zealand from the group stage of the tournament. In fact, the Afghanistan team, which has won both its opening matches, will play its next match against Papua New Guinea.Â
If Afghanistan wins against Papua New Guinea in the next match, they will qualify for the Super-8 and New Zealand will be out of the tournament. If Afghanistan loses the match, New Zealand’s hopes of qualifying will remain alive. Afghanistan defeated Uganda by 125 runs in the first match and Afghanistan by a big margin of 84 runs in the second. Seeing this form of Afghanistan, it seems that they can win the match against Papua New Guinea. Now it will be interesting to see how Afghanistan performs against Papua New Guinea.Â
West Indies became the fourth team to reach Super 8
West Indies became the fourth team to reach Super 8,The 26th match of T20 World Cup 2024 was played between West Indies and New Zealand. In this match, West Indies registered a spectacular victory by 13 runs. New Zealand won the toss in this match and decided to bowl first. West Indies batted first and scored 149 runs and gave New Zealand a target of 150 runs to win. But they collapsed at 136 runs.
After the win, West Indies have made it to the Super 8.
Earlier, India, Australia and South Africa have reached the Super 8.
After the defeat, New Zealand is in danger of being eliminated.
Super-8 matches starting from 19 JuneÂ
The Super-8 matches in the T20 World Cup are starting from 19 June. The 8 teams of Super-8 have been divided into two groups (1 and 2). Group-1 has A1, B2, C1, D2 (Group 1: A1, B2, C1, D2). Similarly, Group-2 has A2, B1, C2, D1 (Group 2: A2, B1, C2, D1). This means that the Indian team will remain in Group One.
The Indian team is at the top of Group A with 6 points. Its net run rate is 1.137. America has 4 points and a net run rate of 0.127. Even if America wins by more than 100 runs, it cannot leave India behind in net run rate. That means India is sure to remain number 1 in the group stage.
A1’s match on 20, 22 and 24 June
According to ICC’s schedule, A1 team’s three matches in Super-8 are to be held on 20, 22 and 24 June respectively. According to this, India can play against West Indies or Afghanistan (C1) on 20 June. Indian team can face Sri Lanka or Netherlands (D2) on 22 June. South Africa is in Group D. There is every possibility that South Africa will remain number-1 at the end of the group stage. Its last match in Group D is against Nepal.
According to the proposed schedule, the Indian team may clash with the team ranked second in Group B on June 24. There is a possibility that India may clash with Scotland or England on this day. Currently, Australia is at number one in this group with 6 points. Scotland (5) is at number two, Namibia (2) is at number three and England (1) is at number four. England still has two matches left and if it wins both these matches and Scotland loses its last match, then the shape of the points table may change. Then England can become number-2. Australia’s last match is against Scotland. If there is no upset, then Australia will enter the Super-8 as B1.
There are still 14 matches left in the group stage
There are still 14 matches left in the T20 World Cup group stage. Turns can happen in cricket at any time. Therefore it cannot be said with complete guarantee which team will be at which number. But the situation so far says that the Indian team will not clash with Australia, South Africa and Pakistan (if it reaches) in the Super-8. The reason is that Australia (B) and South Africa (D) can remain number-1 in their respective groups. Pakistan is in Group A of India in the group stage. As per the schedule, the teams which were together in the group stage will not clash in the Super-8.
The match between India and Australia is being shown on 24 June on the official website of ICC. This has created some confusion because according to the previously released schedule, there is little possibility of this happening. This will be possible only if Australia remains number 2 in its group, which does not seem possible at the moment.
