Women's WC: What are India's chances of reaching semi-finals?
What's the story
India's hopes of making it to the semi-finals of the ongoing ICC Women's World Cup are hanging by a thread. The team, on Sunday, suffered its third consecutive defeat in the tournament, losing to England by four runs. Despite being in a strong position at one point, India couldn't chase down England's target of 289 runs, thereby complicating their path to the knockout stage. Here we decode Team India's qualification scenarios.
Current standings
India remain in contention for last semifinal spot
With their win over India, England have booked a spot in the semi-finals along with South Africa and Australia. This leaves just one semifinal spot up for grabs. Currently, India are fourth on the points table with four points from five matches (NRR +0.526). Their closest rival for the last semifinal spot, New Zealand, also have four points but a lower net run-rate (-0.245).
Scenario
India have fate in their own hands
India's remaining two group-stage matches are against New Zealand on October 23 and Bangladesh on October 26. Winning both would guarantee a semifinal spot for the team. However, if they lose to New Zealand, India will need the Kiwis to lose their last match against England. Besides, India must beat Bangladesh to advance in this case.
Scenario
What is the other scenario?
In another scenario, if India beat NZ but lose to Bangladesh while NZ beat England, the team with a better net run-rate will progress. As far as the on-paper strength is concerned, India will take the field against Bangladesh as favorites. However, the White Ferns can give them a hard time as they boast several prominent names.
PAK, BAN, and SL
What about the other teams?
For Bangladesh (NRR: -0.676), Sri Lanka (NRR: -1.564), and Pakistan (NRR: -1.887), the path to semi-finals is clear: win their remaining two matches. All these three sides have two points from five matches. The loser of the match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be knocked out immediately. If India beat New Zealand, these teams would have to win their remaining matches by a fair margin to stay ahead on net run-rate for qualification.
Match analysis
How the match panned out?
In the match against England, India seemed to be on course for victory with skipper Smriti Mandhana scoring a brilliant 88 and Harmanpreet Kaur contributing 70. However, they lost their way in the last few overs of the chase. Heather Knight's classy century had earlier anchored England's total of 288/8. After this defeat, India will have to win both their remaining matches to keep their semifinal hopes alive.