'Even Qudrat Ka Nizam cannot save us': Pakistan fans left heartbroken after New Zealand virtually enter World Cup semis

The drama as far as the race to the semi-finals of the ongoing ICC World Cup certainly appears over following New Zealand’s five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in Bengaluru on Thursday.

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Both Pakistan and Afghanistan were competing with New Zealand for the fourth and final semi-final spot with four wins each in eight outings.

Hosts India, South Africa and Australia had already grabbed the other three while defending champions England had been eliminated along with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Netherlands and were left to fight for a top-seven finish in order to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy.

New Zealand and Pakistan had the realistic chance given Afghanistan’s poor Net Run Rate (NRR) as well as the fact that they were up against South Africa in their final league match.

The Kiwis, who finished runners-up in the 2015 and 2019 editions, however put paid to Pakistan and Afghanistan’s chances by bowling Sri Lanka out for a modest 171 before chasing the target down in just 23.2 overs.

The win has only widened the gulf between New Zealand and Pakistan with the former’s NRR improving to +0.743, and will require a victory of absurd proportions for the Babar Azam-led side to setup a semi-final clash against India in Kolkata next week.

New Zealand’s victory, naturally, was met with some disappointment online, especially from Pakistani netizens as well as some of their former cricketers. Here are some of those reactions:

Our World Cup Dreams are over & now even Qudrat ka nizam cannot save us