Image Credit- AP
In a game that you have to win by 287 runs, how do you
prepare? Pakistan must defeat England in Kolkata on Saturday in order to
advance to the World Cup semi-finals—and they must do it by the largest margin
in their men’s ODI team’s history.
For the second time in a row, Pakistan will need to
win by an unbelievable margin in order to surpass New Zealand in net run rate
(NRR) going into their last group stage match. At Lord’s, they had to defeat
Bangladesh by about 316 runs in order to escape in 2019; this time, the
necessary margin of 287 runs is just little less.
“It’s in our mind, and we will try to do
it,” Babar Azam, their captain, insisted on Friday at Eden Gardens,
emphasising that Pakistan still believe they can set up a semi-final against
India. “We will try to execute our plans of how we will go tomorrow, and
how we will achieve the target.
“We can’t just go in and start firing blindly. We
want that, but with proper planning – how we want to play the first ten overs,
then the next 20; how we have to achieve that target. There are lots of things
in this – like partnerships, [and] which players will stay on the pitch for how
long.”
“I would say if Fakhar is [batting] in the match
for 20 or 30 overs, we can achieve that,” he said. “Then follow up
with [Mohammad] Rizwan, [and] Iftikhar [Ahmed]. We can do this, and we have
planned for this.”
If Pakistan is requested to bowl first by England,
they will almost be out of the match before a ball is thrown tomorrow because
it will be very difficult for them to increase their NRR. They would need to
knock 17 straight sixes, or finish the chase in 2.5 overs, to surpass New
Zealand’s NRR even if they bowled England out for 100.
“There is one match left. You never know: it’s
cricket,” Babar said. “We will try to finish on a good note, and then
see. I think the South Africa match [which Pakistan lost by one wicket] cost
us. We should have won that match; but unfortunately, we didn’t, because of
which we are at this stage.”