How has India’s loss against South Africa impacted every team in Group 2 of ICC T20 World Cup 2022?

The ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at the Land down under have been full of upsets and uncanny outcomes. It was evident from the Qualifying stages itself with Namibia beating Sri-Lanka in the first match followed by Ireland and Scotland denying 2-time champions West Indies to enter the Super 12s. 

Team	Played	Win	Loss	Net run rate	Points
South Africa	3	2	0	2.772	5
India	3	2	1	0.844	4
Bangladesh	3	2	1	-1.533	4
Zimbabwe	3	1	1	-0.050	3
Pakistan	3	1	2	0.765	2
Netherlands	3	0	3	-1.948	0

During the Super 12s too there were some “Upsets” on display. The opener of Super 12s between last year’s finalists Australia and New Zealand, the Kiwis smashed 200 runs in the first innings and went on to win the match by whopping 89 runs. Then Ireland produced another upset as they defeated European counterpart England by 5 runs through the Duckworth Lewis method. 

A day later, Zimbabwe snatched a win from the hands of one-time champions Pakistan to dent their hopes of qualifying to a second straight Semi-final of the ICC T20 World cup. Yesterday, India were favorites to win their fixture against mighty South Africa but the Blues failed to win their third successive match on the trot. 

Following India’s loss, here is what every team from Group 2 will have to do in order to proceed to the Semi-finals of the Mega T20 event. 

Pakistan – If any team’s fans and players (other than India’s) were left in distraught the most after South Africa’s win against India, then it has to be Pakistan’s. The Men in Green lost both of their opening Super 12 fixtures on the last ball of the match but bounced back against Netherlands yesterday. However, that win is not enough for them to go through as they were relying upon India to win against South Africa. If the 2009 T20 World cup champions are to land a Semi-Finale spot then they will have to win their remaining two matches against South Africa and Bangladesh by a huge margin. Moreover, they will hope for the Proteas to lose their match against Netherlands or India lose at least one of their remaining two matches. All in all relying upon other results and winning their own matches by a big margin is their only hope.

India – The Inaugural champions of the T20 World cup were just a win away from ensuring their spot in the final four but South Africa dented their hopes from becoming the first team to enter the Semis. However, they are still in a comfortable position as they sit in the second spot of Group 2 and wining both of their remaining matches against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will see them enter their 3rd Semi-final in the history of ICC T20 world cup. Their fate is in their own hands plus they will face two comparatively weaker sides. Even if they lose one match they will have to ensure that their net run rate isn’t worse than other teams.

South Africa – Currently at the top of Group 2 with 5 points, South Africa are favorites to join India as the two semi-finalists from the group. They are yet to lose a match in the Super 12s and further solidified their chances after a massive win against India yesterday. They will face Netherlands and Pakistan in their remaining matches and even if they defeat any one of them, South Africa will go all the way to the Semi-finals.

Bangladesh – The Bangla tigers will face two Sub-continent giants India and Pakistan in their final two matches. They currently acquire the third spot in the points table with a poor net run rate of -1.533. If they do the unthinkable and win both of those fixtures they will definitely go through but any worse result than that will see them pack their bags and head back home.

Netherlands – Sitting at the bottom of Group 2, Netherlands are yet to win a match in the Super 12s and even if they win their remaining matches they wont qualify for the later stages of the tournament.

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