World Cup 2019: How India can surpass Australia’s NRR to top the points table?

Team India is currently playing Sri Lanka in their last league match of the World Cup 2019 and in the second match of the day, Australia will take on South Africa. These matches will determine the final team standings on the points table. At the moment, Australia is placed no.1, while India sits at the no.2 spot.

The points table standings are important as the first semi-final between the no.1 ranked team and New Zealand will be played at the Old Trafford in Manchester, while the second semi-final will see England take on the no.2 spot team at the Edgbaston in Birmingham. This is important for India given their record at both the grounds.

The Indian team has played two games in Manchester against West Indies and Pakistan and have won both, while at Edgbaston, they lost to England and won against Bangladesh. At the Old Trafford, the pitches are helpful for the spinners and given the size of the ground, the Indian wrist spinners are at an advantage.

While at the Edgbaston, a very short 59-meter boundary on the sides has been hurtful for the Indian spinners given that Jonny Bairstow and Co. thumped the spinners towards that side only and were rendered ineffective. Also, if Indian team ends up on number one spot, they face New Zealand in the semi-finals, who are down on confidence after three straight losses, instead of England, who have beaten them previously.

What does India need to do to top the table?

Australia needs to beat South Africa in their last match to keep its top position. However, there is a catch. India can only make it to the top if South Africa beats Australia and Sri Lanka loses. But what if the Australia and South Africa match get rained out? In that scenario, and assuming that India wins against Sri Lanka, both the teams will end up on 15 points each and everything will come down to net run-rate.

Give that a chance to have an easy road into the finals is at stake for the Men in Blue, let’s have a look at how many overs the team needs to achieve whatever target the Islanders put in front of them. If the target is 151 runs, India needs to chase it down in 30.3 overs, while the target of 201 runs should be achieved in 30.5 overs. If somehow, Sri Lanka manages to make 250 runs, then India must make 251 runs in 31.1 overs.