Departmental One Day Tournament – Battle for the Semis

The league stage of Departmental One Day Tournament has entered into its final round with all 8 teams to play one final game before the knock out round – 2 Semi Finals and Final. Last day of the league stages will see 8 teams lock horns with each other with Semi Final berths still up for grabs.

UBL has clearly outperformed all other competitors. Winning 6 out of 6, and remaining the only undefeated side in the competition, UBL is already beyond the reach of other teams. Outcomes on the last day of the League round will not affect UBL’s position at the top.

There are two other teams whose positions will not be impacted with the results on the day, KRL and NBP. After winning only one and none, respectively, both KRL and NBP are out of the race. That makes the match between the league leader UBL and team ranked second from the bottom, KRL, a dead rubber.

However, the match between NBP, the team positioned at the bottom and WAPDA, the team currently at number 3 in the points table, is still pretty significant for the tournament. This is all because of the suffocatingly-tight competition among the 5 teams, currently placed 2^nd to 6^th in the points table.

The competition between these 5 teams – PTV, WAPDA, SSGC, SNGPL and HBL –  stands as fascinating and cutthroat as it can ever get. These teams are currently separated with only 2 points between them. None of them is confirmed for the Semi Finals, yet. But they all will take the field, in the last match of the round, with a genuine chance to occupy a Semi Final berth.

In the other two matches on the Final day of the league stages, 2^nd ranked PTV will take on 4^th ranked SSGC while 5^th ranked SNGPL will square off with HBL. Here’s a look at possible outcomes and qualification scenarios.

• If WAPDA wins against NBP:
• and PTV wins against SSGC:
• PTV will qualify (most probably at number 2, the final ranking will depend on the margin of results in SSGC vs PTV and WAPDA vs NBP matches)
• WAPDA will qualify (most probably at number 3, the final ranking will depend on the margin of results in SSGC vs PTV and WAPDA vs NBP matches)
• Winner of SNGPL and HBL will finish number 4 – only team with 8 points
• SSGC will fail to qualify (most probably finish at number 5, the final ranking will depend on the margin of results in SSGC vs PTV and SNGPL vs HBL matches)
• If PTV loses against SSGC
• WAPDA will qualify, finishing at number 2 – only team with 10 points
• 3 teams will be tied at 8 points – PTV, SSGC and winner of SNGPL vs HBL
• SSGC will go to number 3 [SSGC’s current NRR is 0.722 which is only going to get better in case of a win]
• If SNGPL wins against HBL:
• Most probably, PTV will finish 4^th and SNGPL on 5^th (unless PTV faces a thrashing defeat and SNGPL scores a thumping win)
• If HBL wins against SNGPL:
• PTV will finish 4^th and HBL on 5^th. HBL can not cover up in one game for the extremely bad NRR.
• If WAPDA loses against NBP:
• and PTV wins against SSGC:
• PTV will qualify, finishing at number 2 with 10 points
• WAPDA and winner of SNGPL vs HBL (tied at 8 points) will go through
• If SNGPL wins: SNGPL will finish 3^rd and WAPDA 4^th
• IF HBL wins: WAPDA will finish 3^rd and HBL 4^th
• SSGC will drop to number 5 or lower
• IF PTV loses against SSGC:
• 4 teams will be tied at 8 points – PTV, WAPDA, SSGC and winner of SNGPL vs HBL
• SSGC will qualify (most probably at number 2, the final ranking will depend on the margin of results in SSGC vs PTV and SNGPL vs HBL matches)
• PTV will qualify (most probably at number 3, the final ranking will depend on the margin of results in SSGC vs PTV and SNGPL vs HBL matches)
• If SNGPL wins: SNGPL will qualify with NRR 0.069+ and WAPDA will drop to number 5 with NRR -0.031- . HBL will finish at 6^th with 6 points.
• If HBL wins: (Most likely, WAPDA will finish number 4^th, HBL 5^th and SNGPL 6^th)

Following table provides a quick guide to possible outcomes and its likely impact on the final standings in the group: