Explained: How can Pakistan still make it to World Cup semis after Afghanistan shocker

NEW DELHI: Pakistan's ODI World Cup campaign is in jeopardy after they were stunned by Afghanistan by eight wickets in Chennai on Monday. A third successive defeat pushed them into a must-win situation for a place in the semifinals with only four points from five matches.
Pakistan posted a score of 282-7 in their 50 overs, with the contribution of 74 runs from their skipper Babar Azam and 58 runs from opener Abdullah Shafique.However, this total proved to be insufficient against a clinical Afghanistan side.


In pursuit of a target of 283 runs, Afghanistan found their heroes in Ibrahim Zadran (87), Rahmat Shah (77 not out), and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65), propelling them to a total of 286-2 within 49 overs.
This historic victory marks Afghanistan's first-ever win against Pakistan in eight ODIs, and it follows their surprising triumph over defending champions England in Delhi just eight days earlier.
What Pakistan need to do to ensure last four place:
To qualify for the semi-final, Pakistan have a task cut out as they need to win their remaining four games that will see them sit at 12 points. But only winning the matches might not be sufficient for Pakistan, they will have to win their games by big margins to improve their net run rate.
Pakistan, for time being, stayed put in fifth place but after a hat-trick of defeats, another loss against South Africa later this week, will in all likelihood shut the knock-out doors for the 1992 champions.

There are no easy fixtures for Babar Azam-led Pakistan as they face South Africa on October 27, Bangladesh on Oct 31, New Zealand on November 4 and England on Nov 11.
It is probable that a team will require six victories (12 points) to secure a spot in the semi-finals unless adverse weather conditions interfere with the tournament.
India sits atop of the points table with five out of five wins and sealing a semi-final spot is now a mere formality for the hosts. New Zealand, having suffered their first defeat of the tournament against India, is second on the standings with 8 points.
The competition for the third and fourth positions remains highly competitive, as no team, apart from the top two, has accumulated more points than them.
With 6 points from four matches, South Africa continues to be placed at third spot whereas Australia, 4 points from four games, leapfrogged to 4th after winning their last two matches.