1 Point Separating 6 Teams: Explaining Group 1 Qualification Scenario In T20 World Cup 2022

On Thursday, both Group 1 matches -- Ireland vs Afghanistan and Australia vs England -- were abandoned without a ball being bowled. Now, only 1 point separates the 6 teams in the group. Only two, however, can qualify for the semi-finals.

The Australia vs England T20 World Cup 2022 match in Melbourne on Friday was deemed a virtual 'knockout' contest for the two teams. But persistent rain at the stadium resulted in the match being abandoned without a ball being bowled. Earlier in the day, the Afghanistan vs Ireland match was also washed out due to rain. As a result, the Group 1 remains wide open for any of the 6 teams to qualify. However, the hosts Australia, are in for a tricky period because of their Net Run Rate.

As things stand, Australia have the worst net Run Rate of all in the Group 1, courtesy of their horrific defeat to New Zealand in the opener. In 3 matches, Australia have 1 win, 1 loss and 1 No-result.

New Zealand and England, the two favourites to go through at the moment, have a pretty healthy NRR of +4.450 and +0.239 respectively.

In terms of points, there's barely any difference between the 6 teams. New Zealand, England, Australia and Ireland sit on 3 points each while Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have earned 2 points each so far.

Group 1 Remaining Fixtures