World Cup: Pakistan face uphill task, England aim for Champions Trophy qualification

Defending champion England and unpredictable Pakistan started among the favourites to reach the ICC ODI World Cup semifinals, but the teams meet on Saturday to play for pride above anything else. England will be hoping to sign off from a forgettable title defence with three wins from nine games after starting with a thumping nine-wicket loss to New Zealand in a rematch of the 2019 final. England's run in India also included a streak of five consecutive losses. (Getty Images)

And Pakistan need a near impossible 287-run win over England in Kolkata to replace New Zealand in the No. 4 semifinal spot on net run-rate. Pakistan, which have played just one World Cup semi-final — in 2011 — since losing the final to Australia in 1999, were in somewhat of a similar position in the 2019 World Cup. It needed to beat Bangladesh by more than 300 runs in the last league game to knock the Black Caps out of the semifinals, but couldn't achieve the outcome. (PTI Photo)

England are aiming for back-to-back wins after a 160-run victory over last-place Netherlands at Pune. Buttler's team was lurching in last place with a solitary win against Bangladesh before Ben Stokes produced a fighting century against the Dutch and kept England's hopes of 2025 Champions Trophy qualification alive. Buttler has endured an abject tournament, scoring only 111 runs in eight games. (Reuters Photo)

Dawid Malan is the only Englishman among the top 10 scorers at the World Cup, but his 373 runs in eight games are 192 runs behind New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra, an unexpected star of the tournament, who tops the batting chart with 565 runs. The rest of the batters — Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook — have struggled and that didn't help the cause in an upset loss to Afghanistan and an eight-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka. The embattled batting lineup saved its worst for South Africa when chasing 400, capitulating for just 170 in a heavy 229-run loss. (AFP Photo)

England bowlers also haven't made an impression on quality batting oppositions like South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. Eoin Morgan, who led England to that memorable title in 2019 after the final was awarded on a countback of boundaries, has been a vocal critic of the team's performance and Buttler's captaincy in India. England need to finish in the top eight to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy. (Reuters Photo)

For Pakistan, two heartbreaking outcomes at Chennai's Chidambaram Stadium have it in an almost impossible position to go past New Zealand's healthy net run-rate of 0.743. First Afghanistan put up a slick all-round performance, both with the ball and bat, to outclass Pakistan by eight wickets. Then South Africa snatched a one-wicket victory. But the return of fit-again Fakhar Zaman ignited spark in Pakistan's lineup as the left-hander scored 81 against Bangladesh in a seven-wicket win. Zaman then hit 126 off 81 balls to earn Pakistan a 21-run victory against New Zealand on DLS Method in a rain-shortened game. (IANS Photo)

Like England, Pakistan's bowling has been below par. The shoulder injury to Naseem Shah just before the World Cup disturbed Pakistan's pace combination, with Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf leaking plenty of runs against Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand. The spinners – Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz and Usama Mir – weren't effective enough to take pressure off Pakistan's batting. (PTI Photo)