The four semi-finalists of the 2023 ODI World Cup are now confirmed. India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand (who have qualified in that order) will battle it out in the last-four stage. Pakistan were mathematically in contention before the start of their encounter against England in Kolkata, but by the time they had played out 40 balls in the second innings, the Men In Green were knocked out officially. (Match Blog | Streaming | Scorecard)
This means that the match line-up of the last-four stage is now ready. For the first semi-final, hosts India, who have qualified as the number one team in the league phase, will take on New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday, November 15. India had beaten the Kiwis in their group-stage encounter in Dharamsala with four wickets and 12 balls to spare.
In the second semi-final, five-time champions Australia will lock horns with South Africa, who finished second in the points table, at Eden Gardens on Thursday, November 16. The two times had faced off in Lucknow for their league-stage match, where the Proteas had thrashed the Aussies by 134 runs.
Earlier, Pakistan needed to chase down a target of 338 runs in 6.4 overs to surpass New Zealand's net run rate. But the Men In Green could only muster 30 runs for the loss of two wickets in 6.4 overs, signalling the end of their campaign. Pakistan's net run rate was 0.036 at the start of the game, and that of New Zealand (who finished in fourth place) is 0.743. Hence, to overtake the Kiwis and sneak into the knockout stage, Pakistan needed to somehow smash 338 runs in 40 balls, which they obviously could not accomplish.
