COLOMBO: After being defeated by India in their second Super Eights match, team Pakistan is in a critical do or die situation as they will face Australia in their last Super Eight match in World Twenty 20 in Colombo while India will take on South Africa Tuesday.
The Pakistan vs Autralia match will begin at 3:00 pm and India vs South Africa at 7:00 pm according to Pakistan Standard Time.
Pakistan will have to device a comprehensive strategy to come up with an impeccable performance against the unbeaten Australia, which is almost assured a semi-final berth after the commanding eight-wicket victory over South Africa in their last game on Sunday.
Pakistan will face an exit from the tournament in case of losing match against Australia, therefore, Pakistan is in a do or die situation to gain a safe place in the semis.
The fight for the second semi-final slot from Group 2 is indeed intriguing as both India and Pakistan have a fair chance of making their place in the semis, with the Aussies enjoying a healthy run-rate of +1.712.
In case Pakistan (-0.426), who are a shade ahead of India (-0.452) in terms of net run-rate happen to win against Australia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men will then have to win comprehensively against the South Africans in order to make it to the last four.
South Africa has lost both their matches in contrasting manner - a close defeat to Pakistan and a comprehensive one against Australia.
Even if they win on Tuesday, it is an unlikely proposition for AB de Villiers's side to seal a semi-final berth as their inferior run-rate (-0.605) at this stage of the tournament makes their case weak.