Summary Pakistan require an outlandishly big victory against Bangladesh.
LONDON (AFP) - Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed admitted his team need a miracle to qualify for the World Cup semi-finals as they prepare for their final league game against Bangladesh at Lord s on Friday. Captain Sarfraz Ahmed said they would try to give 500 runs target to Bangladesh.
Pakistan require an outlandishly big victory but if Bangladesh bat first, their chances of catching New Zealand will be gone.
"Obviously, we are here to win all the matches," said Sarfaraz, whose team have lost their past four one-day internationals against a fast-improving Bangladesh.
"We will do our best to win the last game as well to end on a high and we will do our best to achieve that but we need to be realistic, but if Allah helps then miracles can happen," he said.
"It s like you score 600, 500, 400 on a pitch then you think you can get the other team out for 50 and then win by a 316-run margin. If you think realistically, then we can only try.
"But the first real thing will be to win the match."
Pakistan s highest total at the tournament is the 348-8 they made in their shock win over England. The host nation s 397-6 against Afghanistan is the best of the World Cup so far.
Sarfaraz said it had been tough to post big totals on the pitches being used in the tournament.
"If you look at the tournament then, realistically, the tournament is of 280-300 totals," said Sarfaraz.
"If you look at the pitches, they were not for free-scoring. They were tough for batting with spin and the ball was not coming onto the bat."
Pakistan were shot out for a paltry 105 in their first match, with the West Indies winning in just 13.4 overs, meaning they took a huge hit on run rate.
They won just one of their first five matches, coming back strongly to beat South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan to sit fifth in the 10-team table.
But England s victory against New Zealand on Wednesday left them with a virtually impossible task.
Those two teams plus Australia and India will almost certainly be the four semi-finalists
Pakistan s World Cup mission impossible
Even if Pakistan beat Bangladesh at Lord s on Friday, they face a near-impossible task to qualify for the World Cup semi-finals.
The top four at the end of the 10-team round-robin phase advance to the knockouts.
Victory would draw Pakistan level on 11 points with fourth-placed New Zealand.
If two sides are level on points at the end of the group stage, the team with more wins goes through.
But a Pakistan success would mean both they and New Zealand had won five of their nine pool matches.
The next tie-breaker is net run-rate and New Zealand have a huge advantage at +0.175 compared with Pakistan s -0.792, which is in part a consequence of Pakistan s heavy defeat by the West Indies in their opening match, when they were skittled out for just 105.
Pakistan now need to surpass the record winning margin by runs in a one-day international of 290 if they are to overtake New Zealand.
But if Bangladesh won the toss and batted first, the 1992 champions slim hopes of a semi-final spot would evaporate even before a ball was bowled.
That is because net run-rate can only be boosted by so much if a team is chasing a target, and in Pakistan s case it would not be enough for them to top New Zealand.
Here is what Pakistan, whose highest total at the World Cup so far is the 348-8 they made in a shock win over England, need to do:
If Pakistan score 350, they must win by 311 runs.
If Pakistan score 400, they must win by 316 runs.
If Pakistan score 450, they must win by 321 runs.
Bangladesh coach Rhodes says pressure on Pakistan in World Cup clash
On the other hand Bangladesh coach Steve Rhodes says the pressure will be on Pakistan when the two sides meet in their final World Cup league game.
Pakistan are not technically out of the competition yet but would need a freakishly big win against already eliminated Bangladesh to overtake New Zealand on run rate.
If Bangladesh win the toss and bat, Pakistan would be out before the game even starts.
"We ve got the pressure of 170 million back home wanting us to win but Pakistan can still qualify and, maybe, the pressure is all on Pakistan going into this game," Rhodes said on Thursday.
"Both teams are desperate to beat each other. We certainly are. They ve got a lot to play for as well."
Rhodes, whose team have won their past four one-day internationals against Pakistan, said a win in their final match would make it a good tournament for his side.
"If we beat Pakistan, I think we ve had a very good World Cup, even though we ve not qualified," said the former England Test player.
"And I say that because the other teams, some of the big teams that we ve played against, we ve had close-ish games against them.
"We pushed Australia. We pushed India. Generally, the games we ve played, we ve been in the contest, and we ve showed a lot of fight. We carry on doing that, then we re going to improve and improve.
"We would have loved to have qualified for the latter stages, that s a disappointment. But the victories have been very good. Certainly, the early victory with South Africa, and West Indies."
Bangladesh scored 322 to beat the West Indies by seven wickets -- the highest successful chase of the tournament.
Rhodes played down the hype around the last World Cup match for skipper Mashrafe Mortaza.
"The one thing about Mashrafe with the players is that they respect him incredibly," said Rhodes of Mashrafe, who has announced this will be his last World Cup.
"Hopefully, the boys will give him the right sort of respect playing his last game in the World Cup but then most importantly we ll concentrate on the match
