India's Semifinal Hopes Hanging by a Thread - Pakistan's Crucial Role Revealed!

Defeat against defending champions Australia has meant that India's chances of qualifying for the semifinals of the women's T20 World Cup are almost over. However the team can still qualify for the semis provided Pakistan do them a favour.

As it stands in Group A, India are fourth with two wins from four matches, just below Pakistan who have pulled off a few upsets in the competition. India have struggled with consistency throughout the tournament with their batting faltering under pressure while their bowling, barring the odd performance, has also failed to deliver the killer blows.

The 40-run loss against Australia meant India slipped down in the group table leaving them on the cusp of elimination. As such their immediate future in the tournament hinges upon other teams and how they perform in the remaining matches. Specifically the onus is on Pakistan now who are locked in a three-way tie with New Zealand and India for the two available spots for the knockout stages.

Pakistan's matches against lower-ranked Fiji and Ireland hold a lot of significance. For India to stay alive, Pakistan should now win their remaining matches which would take their points tally to eight points and Pakistan, and New Zealand would move to six points.

India's immediate next match is against Fiji and a victory against them will take their tally to six as well. So three teams will now have six points from their matches and then net run-rate would come into play.

India has to improve their abysmal run rate which is -0.331 as Pakistan is second in the list with +0.129 and New Zealand has +0.251 which means India have to heavily win their match against Fiji.

So far as Group A is concerned New Zealand will now finish with six points. They still have to play Ireland and win that. They have already played against India, Australia and Pakistan, collecting six valuable points from those match. And if New Zealand beats Ireland they end their campaign with six points.

So even if India win their remaining matches and see other favorable results they are not guaranteed of the final spot. New Zealand and Pakistan will have their say in their semifinal qualification hopes. Only if Pakistan beats Ireland and Fiji while New Zealand loses against Ireland are India assured of their progression. But in the above stated scenarios where three teams end with six points each and New Zealand qualifies then other factors come into consideration.