Can Afghanistan still win the semi-finals race against Pakistan and New Zealand?

Afghanistan run of three victories came to a stop, and they found themselves in an awkward situation going into the last match against South Africa.

Afghanistan had a slim chance to advance to Cricket World Cup semifinals, but Australia’s Glenn Maxwell won the match on his own. At one point, Australia was 91/7 chasing a target of 292. Maxwell scored an undefeated 201 to pull off one of the most incredible run chases in the tournament history, but it felt like they were still so far away.

Pat Cummins, the skipper, and Maxwell forged an undefeated 202-run stand; throughout that incredible stand, Cummins managed just 12 runs from 68 balls.

However, Afghanistan’s winning run of three games came to an end, and they now had a lot of work to do in their last group match against South Africa. Even though Proteas have already qualified for the semifinals, a victory over them might not be enough to advance them there because New Zealand and Pakistan are still in the running for the final semi-final spot.

New Zealand leads in both net run-rate and points, while Pakistan and Afghanistan have eight points after as many games. Afghanistan needs to win by a huge margin in order to advance to the semi-finals because of their lower run-rate than Pakistan.

Notably, Afghanistan plays South Africa on Friday and Pakistan plays England on Saturday, November 11. New Zealand has an NRR OF +0.743, whereas Afghanistan’s is -0.338.

Afghanistan must not only defeat South Africa in their upcoming game but also defeat the Kiwis with their NRR, an unlikely defeat.