Can Pakistan still qualify for T20 World Cup Super Eight stage?

The highly anticipated India v Pakistan clash at the T20 World Cup lived up to its billing as a tense battle until the 20th over of second innings gave fans everything they could have hoped for.

While batting proved a hazardous task once again on a treacherous New York pitch, top-class bowling and a few enterprising innings made for an epic encounter that went right down to the wire.

In the end, India managed to defend a below par score of 119. Jasprit Bumrah was immaculate with the ball once again, snaring 3-14 in a spell of the highest quality. He received good support from all-rounder Hardik Pandya (2-24), who picked up the dangerous Fakhar Zaman, and Mohammad Siraj, who gave away just 19 runs from his four overs.

Pakistan, who were right on course at 80-3 after 14 overs, stumbled to 113-7. Fast bowler Naseem Shah, who had bowled brilliantly in the first innings, was seen wiping away his tears in the end; he even hit successive boundaries in the final over but the target was just beyond reach.

India thus made it two wins out of two games, while Babar Azam's team have now lost both their opening games; they lost to co-hosts USA in the Super Over in Dallas.

The top two teams from each of the four groups will qualify for the Super Eight stage. As things stand, India and USA are on top with two wins and four points apiece. Pakistan are languishing near the bottom of the five-team Group A.

After such a poor start, Pakistan face an uphill battle in the qualification race. Not only do they need to win their remaining two games - against Canada (Tuesday) and Ireland (Sunday) - they need other results to go in their favour as well.

Firstly, Pakistan need to win their matches by a good margin to improve their net run rate,