Follow UsIndia hammered Pakistan by six wickets in Match 5 of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai on February 23 (Sunday), and have more or less confirmed their spot in the semis.
The Men in Blue defeated Bangladesh by six wickets in their first match of the tournament, and have followed it with another easy win over arch-rivals Pakistan.
Chasing a target of 242, Virat Kohli crafted an unbeaten 100 off 111 and helped India hunt down the target in 42.3 overs.
India have their one foot in the knockouts, but there’s still a chance they might not make it through to the semi-finals.
For India to not qualify for the semis of the Champions Trophy 2025, three things need to happen:
Bangladesh need to defeat New Zealand by a decent margin in Rawalpindi on February 23. Bangladesh managed to drag the game to the 47th over against India, so their NRR (-0.408) isn’t too bad.
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Bangladesh will then have to hammer Pakistan by good margin on February 27. Pakistan (-1.087) have already lost two games and are more or less out of the race to the knockouts.
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India are scheduled to take on New Zealand on March 2 and if they lose that game by a big margin, there’s a possibility that they could get knocked out. Right now, India’s NRR is +0.647, while New Zealand’s is +1.200.
However, it’s highly unlikely India won’t make it to the semis.