Pakistan are officially out of the ICC World Cup 2023 as they failed to chase down the target set by England within the required overs at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday.
England posted 337 for 9 on the board after electing to bat first and Pakistan had the impossible task of chasing it down in 6.4 overs to overhaul New Zealand's net run rate and book a semi-final clash against India.
But they could only manage 30/2 in 6.4 overs with both openers Abdullah Shafique (0) and Fakhar Zaman (1) back in the dressing room. The Men in Green now need to score at least 188 runs to finish in the top five on the points table in the league stage.
Their slim chances of advancing to the knockouts had already taken a hit after England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bat first in the city of joy.
Pakistan's qualification scenarios before this match:
If England score 50, chase in 2 overs.
If England score 100, chase in 2.5 overs.
If England score 200, chase in 4.3 overs.
If England score 300, chase in 6.1 overs
This is now the third ODI World Cup in a row where Pakistan has failed to reach the semis.
Pakistan's recent run in ODI WC:
2003 WC - Couldn't qualify into Semis.
2007 WC - Couldn't qualify into Semis.
2015 WC - Couldn't qualify into Semis.
2019 WC - Couldn't qualify into Semis.
2023 WC - Couldn't qualify into Semis.
India vs New Zealand confirmed
New Zealand will now face India in the last-four at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 15.
England's innings was powered by a brutal 84 from Ben Stokes, who had come out of ODI retirement for this World Cup.
Stokes's knock included 11 fours and a couple of sixes while Joe Root (60) and Jonny Bairstow (59) also made useful contributions to the team's total.
Haris Rauf shines but gets an unwanted record
Haris Rauf was the pick of the Pakistani bowlers with 3 for 64 but he registered an unwanted record during the match. With 533 runs in 9 ODIs, Rauf surpassed Adil Rashid's 2019 tally of 526 to conceded the most runs in a single edition of the World Cup.
Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Wasim Jr grabbed a couple of wickets each but still couldn't stop the defending champions from crossing the 300-run mark.
This is England’s highest total against Pakistan in ODI World Cups, surpassing their 334/9 in a failed run-chase at Trent Bridge in 2019.
Both teams have been knocked out of the semis race and are playing their final match of this edition. England have to win this match to qualify for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
