Champions Trophy: New Zealand vs Pakistan

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Champions Trophy: New Zealand vs Pakistan

The Champions Trophy is starting to wind down, and all 8 teams are still alive. None have clinched a semifinal spot yet, and none have been eliminated. That will finally change with today's match. The two remaining matches in Group B are essentially quaterfinal matches, with the winners advancing to the semifinals.

Current standings:
Code: 
Group B 
              P  W  L  NR T Points   NRR  
New Zealand   2  1  1  -  -  2      +0.414  
Pakistan      1  1  -  -  -  2      +0.234  
South Africa  2  1  1  -  -  2      -0.090  
Sri Lanka     3  1  2  -  -  2      -0.195

We'll finally have one team eliminated today, and one will advance to the semifinals.

If New Zealand wins: New Zealand will clinch a spot in the semifinals, while Sri Lanka will be eliminated

If Pakistan wins: Pakistan will clinch a spot in the semifinals, while either Sri Lanka or New Zealand will be eliminated, depending on which team has the worse net run rate after today's match.

In this article on cricinfo, Sri Lanka still in with a chance, they take a look at how close New Zealand will have to be if they lose, in order to stay ahead of Sri Lanka. The whole thing would be moot if New Zealand wins, of course.



New Zealand (likely): 1 Stephen Fleming (capt), 2 Lou Vincent, 3 Nathan Astle, 4 Scott Styris, 5 Hamish Marshall, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Brendon McCullum (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Shane Bond, 11 Jeetan Patel.

Pakistan (likely) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Imran Farhat, 3 Younis Khan (capt), 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Abdul Razzaq, 8 Kamran Akmal (wk), 9 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, 10 Rao Iftikhar Anjum, 11 Umar Gul.
 
Re: Champions Trophy: New Zealand vs Pakistan

New Zealand finished 274-4.

Compared to the rest of this tournament, that seems like an unassailable target. Unfortunately, Styris and McCullum both got hurt during that innings. So New Zealand's defense of that total may be a little shaky.

Styris with 86 and Fleming with 80 were the top scorers.
 
Re: Champions Trophy: New Zealand vs Pakistan

Pakistan 22-1 after 4.

Slightly expensive bowling from Bond, but he just got the wicket of Farhat, so that'll do.


By the way, I would think that the total from New Zealand has all but eliminated Sri Lanka already. Even if New Zealand lose, they should still have a better NRR than Sri Lanka. I don't know what the exact math is, but I would think that Pakistan would have to reach 275 very quickly, probably in under 40 overs, to drop New Zealand's NRR down below Sri Lanka's.

So, barring a miracle here from Pakistan, Sri Lanka is done.
 
Re: Champions Trophy: New Zealand vs Pakistan

Well, Hafeez is having a fine day out there. He's up to 43 from only 41 balls. Unfortunately, no one else is contributing for Pakistan. Farhat only scored 6. Younis was out for only 2, and Yousuf is currently on 3. It's a one-man team!

Pakistan 60-2 after 11.
 
Re: Champions Trophy: New Zealand vs Pakistan

And of course, I jinxed him.

Oram comes on and gets Hafeez in his first over. Now we'll see if anybody else can score for Pakistan today.
Pakistan 65-3
 
Re: Champions Trophy: New Zealand vs Pakistan

Pakistan 99-4 after 20.

They're basically scoring 5 per over, and if they can keep that up, they have a realistic chance of reaching the target set for them. Yousuf is up to 28, and if he can stick around for a while, we could be in for an exciting finish.

We'll see what happens when Vettori comes on to bowl though. I'd expect him to be more economical. And Oram has been fantastic so far.
 
Re: Champions Trophy: New Zealand vs Pakistan

171-4 after 35

Looks like we have a good match on here as these two teams battle to be the first to qualify for the semifinals. Yousuf is on 69, and Malik is on 35. The longer they stick around, the stronger Pakistan's position becomes. New Zealand will need to break this partnership soon.
 
Re: Champions Trophy: New Zealand vs Pakistan

Bond comes back on and almost immediately gets Yousuf to hit it straight to Fleming. Yousuf out for 71. That's a huge wicket, New Zealand really needed that.

177-5 after 36.3
 
Re: Champions Trophy: New Zealand vs Pakistan

192-5 after 40 overs. Malik just got his 50.

Pakistan need 83 runs from the final 10 overs. Should be exciting.
 
Re: Champions Trophy: New Zealand vs Pakistan

Now Bond gets Razzaq, his third wicket of the day.
195-6 after 41
 
Re: Champions Trophy: New Zealand vs Pakistan

With his final delivery of the day, Vettori gets Shoaib Malik to fly out to Astle.
202-7 and New Zealand are looking good for a win now.
 
Re: Champions Trophy: New Zealand vs Pakistan

Ross Taylor with a great throw to get Umar Gul on a run out.
Last man in here.
 
Re: Champions Trophy: New Zealand vs Pakistan

Pakistan all out for 223 after 46.3 overs.
New Zealand win by 51 runs.
New Zealand are the first team to qualify for the semifinals.
Sri Lanka are eliminated from the competition.
The match between Pakistan and South Africa in two days is now a quarterfinal match for the other spot in the semifinals from this group.

Fleming was named man of the match for his 80. It was a good way to celebrate his record-breaking captaincy.
 
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