Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur has called for a rule change at the Cricket World Cup after his side missed out on a semi-finals spot due to an inferior net run-rate (NRR) compared to New Zealand's
On Saturday (NZ time), Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 94 runs at Lord's, which saw them finish the tournament with 11 points courtesy of five wins, three losses, and one no result - the same record as the Blackcaps.
But as the Blackcaps' net-run-rate was higher than Pakistan's (0.175 to -0.43) New Zealand earned the right to compete in the semi-finals, with a match against Australia or India in Manchester on Tuesday.
Pakistan had to beat Bangladesh by a record margin of more than 300 runs to leapfrog the Blackcaps in the standings - who they beat earlier in the tournament.
The reason why Pakistan's net-run-rate was so low was due their seven-wicket defeat to the West Indies in their opening game of the tournament.
"The best four teams qualified, but it feels nice that we beat two of them [England and New Zealand]," explained Arthur.
"But if I'm honest, I would certainly have liked them to consider head-to-head because then tonight we'd be in the semi-final.
"I do think it needs a look. I certainly do. I think amount of wins, head-to-head, and then if there's three teams all together, then I think net run rate can sort it out.
"Because what it does and what it's done to us is that one very poor game and you really battle to recover again."
Arthur has support in West Indies pace legend Michael Holding, who feels teams should not be placed in the points table based on net run rate when two sides are tied on same points.
"Pakistan should be in the semi-finals if they beat Bangladesh," he said.
"NRR should be the last thing to consider. If points and wins are equal then the result between both teams should be deciding factor. Since Pakistan beat New Zealand, they should be in semi-finals."
After posting 315/9 from their 50 overs, Pakistan had to bowl Bangladesh out for seven or less to have their net-run-rate climb over New Zealand's. But Bangladesh passed the total in just 11 balls.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a discussion," said Arthur. "We won the toss, which was a good start. Getting 400 is a platform. The message we got from Fakhar [Zaman] when he came back in the change room was it was slow and tough to score."
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