It is not time to panic.
A World Cup semifinal spot is not assured for the Black Caps, although much would have to go against them to not be there.
The easiest way through would be to beat England tomorrow night.
If they cannot manage that, ensuring they are not thrashed by a significant margin should be enough.
Pakistan and Bangladesh both have a shot of leapfrogging the Black Caps.
Both are yet to play each other, while Bangladesh would also have to beat India tonight.
But the wins would also have to be by a significant margin.
Pakistan's net run rate of -0.792 leaves it 1.364 behind New Zealand's 0.572.
Bangladesh's -0.133 places it in a more likely spot, although it would need to cause a big upset by d beating India.
Both are significant gaps to close.
Use the thrashing Australia gave the Black Caps on Sunday as a gauge.
The Black Caps lost 0.4 in their net run rate in that.
For Pakistan to jump ahead, it would need to thrash Bangladesh nearly twice as badly.
That would only be half the job, as the Black Caps would need to slump to nearly twice as badly when losing as well.
A loss similar to the one against Australia would leave the Black Caps vulnerable to Bangladesh.
Even if it was to happen, Bangladesh would still have to win both its games and lift its run rate by about 0.3.
The option also remains for the Black Caps to simply play to protect their run rate.
Either way, if the time to panic does indeed arise, something will have had to go seriously astray.
