India suffered a devastating blow with a defeat against England in the Women's World Cup on Sunday (October 19), thus significantly jeopardising their semifinal hopes.
Despite having the match in their grasp, another collapse in the latter stages cost them the game, as Harmanpreet Kaur and her girls lost the match by just 4 runs.
England Women posted a competitive 288/8 in their 50 overs against India, led by skipper Heather Knight's superb 109 off 91 balls, laced with 15 fours and a six. Amy Jones supported with a fluent 56, while Nat Sciver-Brunt added 38 as England built a strong foundation. However, Deepti Sharma turned the tide with an excellent spell, claiming 4 for 51, including the key wickets of Beaumont, Jones, Lamb, and Capsey. Shree
Charani chipped in with two wickets, dismissing Sciver-Brunt and Dunkley.
India lost Pratika Rawal early but Smriti Mandhana and Harleen Deol steadied the ship. After Harleen's dismissal, captain Harmanpreet Kaur joined Smriti and the duo put on a scintillating partnership of 125 runs for 3rd wicket. Harman scored 70 runs while Mandhana scored 88 runs. Deepti Sharma played a crucial knock as her magnificent fifty, but India kept on losing wickets in the final five overs. In the end, they came short by just 4 runs in Indore.
With the defeat, India now have 4 points in their five matches, which has significantly blown their semifinal hopes.
India Women's Semifinal Qualification Scenario
The Indian women's team will be taking on New Zealand and Bangladesh in their last two group stage matches. With just four points in five matches for New Zealand as well, the next match between India and New Zealand can be a virtual quarterfinal. The winning team of the match will have a foot towards the semifinal.
2 Wins
If India win their next two matches, they will qualify for the semifinal as the 4th team in this Women's World Cup.
Lose against New Zealand, Win against Bangladesh
In that case, India will have to hope for New Zealand's defeat against England in their final group stage match and will also have to secure a decent Net Run Rate.
Win against New Zealand, Lose against Bangladesh
If India win against New Zealand in their next match and then loses against Bangladesh, that still may be enough for India to go through to the semi final. As the Indian team has a superior net run rate than the Kiwis, even a defeat against Bangladesh may be enough. But for that, Harmanpreet Kaur and co. will have to secure a sizeable win in their next match.
What happens if Rain spoils IND vs NZ match?
A rain may not be the worst thing for India as it would not just give them a point but keep their NRR significantly higher than the New Zealand side as well. In this scenario, India will have to better or equal New Zealand's final group match result.
