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 2nd to 6th
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, 2nd ranked PTV will take on 4th ranked SSGC while
5th 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 4th
and SNGPL on 5th (unless PTV faces a thrashing defeat and SNGPL
scores a thumping win)
- If HBL wins against SNGPL:
- PTV will finish 4th and
HBL on 5th. 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 3rd
and WAPDA 4th
- IF HBL wins: WAPDA will finish 3rd
and HBL 4th
- 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 6th with 6 points.
- If HBL wins: (Most likely, WAPDA will
finish number 4th, HBL 5th and SNGPL 6th)
Following table provides a quick guide to
possible outcomes and its likely impact on the final standings in the group: