In the 24th match of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2025, India beat New Zealand by 53 runs on DLS method at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and advanced to the semi-finals. Earlier, at the toss, New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine emerged victorious against her counterpart Harmanpreet Kaur and elected to field first. However, her decision turned out to be disastrous as India openers Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal built a 212-run stand for the first wicket off just 200 balls. Mandhana and Rawal did their jobs exceptionally.
Mandhana notched up her 14th WODI century and concluded her knock on 109 (95) while Rawal ended her innings on 122 (134), her maiden hundred in the World Cup. Jemimah Rodrigues also played a brisk knock of an unbeaten
76 off 55 which helped Indiaerect a massive total of 340/3 in 49 overs. For New Zealand, Rosemary Mair, Amelia Kerr, and Suzie Bates also took one wicket apiece.
New Zealand could only reach total of 271/8 in rain-curtailed contest
The match witnessed interruption due to rain and New Zealand were tasked to chase 325 in 44 overs. The White Ferns lost their veteran opener Suzie Bates early but Georgia Plimmer and Amelia Kerr stood in the middle and built a 50-run partnership together for the second wicket. Renuka Singh broke the stand as she got rid of Plimmer, who looked in brilliant touch. The right-handed batter got dismissed after amassing 30 off 25.
Renuka went on to claim skipper Sophie Devine’s scalp as well. The Kiwi captain returned to the pavilion after scoring only six off nine. Kerr also lost her battle against Sneh Rana and walked back to the dugout with her 45-run contribution off 53 balls. In the cruch situation, Brooke Halliday and Izzy Gaze played fighting knocks of 81 (84) and 54* (41) respectively. However, their innings couldn't stop the hosts from winning the game and qualifying for the knockouts. Smriti's batting effort got her the player of the match (POTM) award.
