New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is trying to focus on the positives, after his side's loss to Pakistan in a rain-hit World Cup game left them in a precarious position in the chase for a semi-final spot.
The fourth-placed Blackcaps posted a mammoth 401/6 in 50 overs - one run short of their biggest ever against Ireland in 2008 - but faced the wrath of Pakistan batsman Fakhar Zaman, who hit an 81-ball 126, before play was called off, with the Asian side prevailing by 21 runs, via the Duckworth Lewis Stern method.
After opening their campaign with four wins, New Zealand have now fallen to four straight losses, as injuries take their toll. They were unable to field first-choice pace bowlers Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry against Pakistan.
The 2019 runners-up now need to win their remaining match against Sri Lanka at Bengaluru to reach 10 points and get a better net run rate than at least one of the other sides who can finish on that mark - Australia, Pakistan or Afghanistan - to make the knockouts.
They can also end up with eight points, with a better net run rate than any of the other teams on the same points, but Williamson says they will try to finish strongly.
"I think the approach will be similar," he said. "We can't rely on other teams as you get down to some small margins of whether it's run rate or your last match.
"Anything can happen, but our focus is still on the cricket we want to keep playing and adjusting to what's in front of us. We've done that in positive ways and also being challenged at certain times, which you expect in these sorts of competitions.
"We can't control what other people are doing, but we can really focus on our next game and preparing well for that."
Williamson is pleased with the efforts of his batsmen, with Rachin Ravindra making his third century of the tournament, but he did not fault the bowlers who faced Fakhar's fury.
"The first half was a great effort, a lot of really good partnerships," he said. "The guys understood the surface was good, perhaps better than it appeared, and we were able to get a competitive total - so we thought.
"The guys in the second half tried hard. It was tough, the weather perhaps didn't help, but we can't take anything away from the tasks that Pakistan had to try and achieve, and they came out and played beautifully well.
"Obviously Zaman, when he's going, not many grounds are big enough, but certainly this one wasn't and he just hit it to all parts. Credit to the way Pakistan came out and achieved what they did today."
The Equation
Four teams are still contesting the last two World Cup semi-final spots:
Australia - 10 points, +0.924 net run rate, v Afghanistan (November 7) & Bangladesh (November 11)
New Zealand - eight points, +0.398 net run rate, v Sri Lanka (November 9)
Pakistan - eight points, +0.036 net run rate, v England (November 11)
Afghanistan - six points, -0.330 net run rate, v Australia (November 7), v South Africa (November 10)
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