Colombo: Their campaign is back on track after the morale-boosting win over Pakistan but India can hardly afford to relax as they take on an erratic but still intimidating South Africa in their final Super Eights match on Tuesday for a place in the semifinals of the World Twenty20 here.
The fight for the second semifinal slot from Group 2 is intriguingly poised as both India and Pakistan have a fair chance of making the cut, although Australia seem to be favourites at the moment.
MS Dhoni admitted that devising a strategy without knowing the result of the Australia versus Pakistan game will be foolhardy.
In case Pakistan (-0.426), who are a shade better than India (-0.452) in terms of net run-rate happen to win against Australia, Dhoni and his men will then have to win comprehensively against the South Africans in order to make it to the last four.
If Australia maintain a clean slate in the Super Eights by beating Pakistan, the equation will be a lot easier for India as a win will be good enough. Even in case of a defeat against South Africa, India should ensure that they don’t lose by a big margin as the net run rate will come into play with three teams tied with one win each.
South Africa have lost both their matches in contrasting manners and AB de Villiers will now want his team to end the tournament on a respectable note and think of an outside chance of qualifying, although their poor net run-rate might prove to be a deterrent. (PTI)
