• Pakistan lost to India by 6 runs.
• Key players underperformed in the match.
• Pakistan needs to win their remaining two matches.

In their second match of the T20 World Cup 2024, Pakistan was defeated by India by a margin of six runs. The match took place in New York on Sunday, and this loss has significantly impacted Pakistan’s prospects of advancing to the Super 8 stage of the tournament.

Pakistan was unable to reach the 120-run target set by India, who had been struggling with their batting. This was a major disappointment as all of Pakistan’s key players underperformed in New York.

Having lost two matches consecutively, Pakistan’s journey to the Super 8 has become exceedingly challenging, as their fate is no longer solely in their hands.

Here is the potential path for Pakistan to qualify for the Super 8 round of the T20 World Cup, with only two matches remaining:

June 11: Canada vs Pakistan — Pakistan emerges victorious

June 12: USA vs India — India triumphs

June 14: USA vs Ireland: — Ireland wins

June 15: Canada vs India — India secures a win

June 16: Ireland vs Pakistan — Pakistan wins

If all these outcomes occur as outlined above, Pakistan will accumulate four points from four matches, while India will have eight. The USA will conclude their group-stage games with the same points as Pakistan, and Canada and Ireland will each have two points.

In this scenario, India will advance directly to the Super Eight, while the USA and Pakistan will each have four points. The Net Run Rate (NRR) will then be the deciding factor. To improve their chances, Pakistan needs to secure large-margin victories against Canada and Ireland, and also hope for the USA to lose to India and Ireland by significant margins.

Despite a promising start where Pakistan didn’t lose a wicket in the initial four overs, they failed to capitalize on this advantage. Captain Babar Azam was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah after scoring 13 runs.

Following the captain’s dismissal, Usman Khan came to the crease and provided support to Mohammad Rizwan, but Rizwan was eventually dismissed by Axar Patel.

Pakistan desperately needed a solid partnership during the middle overs, but none of their batters could deliver. Fakhar Zaman (13 off 8), Shadab Khan (4 off 7), and Imad Wasim (15 off 23) all returned to the pavilion without making significant contributions.

The game’s turning point was when Bumrah dismissed Rizwan, who had scored 31 runs. Rizwan seemed poised to lead Pakistan to victory, but Bumrah put an end to that possibility.

Pakistan ended their innings at 113-7 in 20 overs. For India, Bumrah claimed three wickets, Hardik Pandya took two, and Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel each took one.

In the first innings, the Pakistani bowlers had the upper hand, restricting the Indian batters and not allowing them much freedom in one of the tournament’s most eagerly awaited matches.

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