The ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 is turning out to be one of the most thrilling and entertaining tournaments ever. New Zealand and England qualified from Group 1 to the semi-finals. Even though, the Indian cricket team was sitting on top of the points table in Group 2, nothing was confirmed coming into the final day of the group stage of the ongoing marquee event. Three games were scheduled to be held on the same day.
South Africa, who entered the tournament as one of the favorites to win the cup, had the most possibility to win the first game against the Netherlands. The Proteas, who defeated India, in a shock of events, were defeated by the Netherlands. The South African bowlers looked like a shadow of themselves as they smashed the Dutch batters to all the corners of the ground.
𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬 🙌#TeamIndia | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/4avLw1VgOT
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 6, 2022
From looking like favorites to getting knockout out in the group stage, South Africa’s defeat has made a strong impact on the results of Group 2. Since the Proteas couldn’t go beyond 5 points, team India with 6 points have already qualified through the semi-finals as only one more team can reach the 6-point mark.
If India manages to defeat Zimbabwe their tally will go to 8 points, however, a defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe won’t affect their chance. It has to be noted, that this is the fourth time that the Indian cricket team has managed to qualify for the semi-finals in T20 World Cup after 2007, 2014, and 2016.
However, India reaching to the semi-finals isn’t the only consequence of South Africa’s loss against the Netherlands. Pakistan vs Bangladesh’s match would have been of little consequence had Proteas won the game and the Babar Azam-led side would have wanted India to lose their match even after defeating Bangladesh. Now Bangladesh and Pakistan – both the teams have 4 points in their kitties. So, the winner of the ongoing Bangladesh vs Pakistan match will become the second team to qualify for the semi-finals from Group 2.
