Despite getting thrashed by Harmanpreet Kaur’s team India in their previous ACC Women’s Asia Cup 2026 match, Fatima Sana’s Pakistan are still in contention for the semi-finals with their upcoming game against Hong Kong later today being a do-or-die one.
Pakistan currently have two points from two matchesThey began their campaign with a 35-run win over Thailand but then suffered a heavy seven-wicket defeat against IndiaThailand have also finished with two points after completing all three of their group matches, while Hong Kong are yet to open their accountIndia have already qualified after winning all three games.
Pakistan’s last group match is against Hong Kong on September 7A win will take Fatima Sana’s side to four points and confirm their place in the semi-finalsThey do not need to worry about the net run rate if they win.
A no-result will also be enough for PakistanIn that case, they will move to three points, while Hong Kong can collect only one pointThailand, meanwhile, are already stuck on two points after completing their campaign.
The situation becomes less certain if Pakistan lose to Hong KongSuch a result would leave Pakistan, Thailand and Hong Kong all on two pointsThe second semi-finalist from Group A would then be decided by net run rate.
Pakistan do have an advantage on that frontTheir current net run rate is -0.569, which is considerably better than Thailand’s -2.050 and Hong Kong’s -3.575Thailand cannot improve their figure because they have already played all three matches.
This means Pakistan could still qualify even with a defeat, but the margin would become importantA heavy loss to Hong Kong could push their net run rate below that of their rivals and knock them out.
The defeat against India has put Pakistan in this positionIndia bowled them out for only 55 before completing the chase in 8.4 oversIt was Pakistan’s lowest completed total in women’s T20I cricket and also gave India a seven-wicket win.
Hong Kong have also struggled in the tournamentThey lost their opening game to Thailand by six runs before India handed them a 137-run defeatThey now need to beat Pakistan to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals.
