In the Women's World Cup 2022, the Indian team lost against England (England Women vs India Women) on Wednesday. Team India was all out for just 136 runs on the ground of Mount Maunganui and England achieved this target by losing 6 wickets.
While England registered their first win in the tournament, India has lost two out of four matches. However, losing the match against England can be very heavy for Team India.
That's because Team India still has three more league matches left but the problem is that two of its matches are going to be from the best teams of the tournament. If the Indian team had defeated out-of-form England, then its claim of reaching the semi-finals would have been strengthened.
There is a need to know the condition of the points table before why Team India may have to struggle to reach the semi-finals. Australia is at the top of the points table, winning 4 out of 4 matches. South Africa have won all their three matches so far, they are in second place.
Indian team is in third place due to 4 points in 2 matches and a better run rate of +0.632. At the same time, New Zealand and West Indies also have 4-4 points and both these teams are in fourth and fifth place.
What will the Indian team have to do to reach the semi-finals?
The Indian team needs to play the best cricket to reach the semi-finals. The ideal situation is that they win their remaining three matches so that he gets 10 points. But if this does not happen then they will have to win at least 2 matches and also take care of the net run rate.
However, the trouble here is that Team India has to play its next match against Australia, which is still invincible. After this, India has to face weak Bangladesh but the last match is against South Africa.
In such a situation, two matches are challenging for India and if they are defeated in both, then their hopes of reaching the semi-finals can be shattered.
New Zealand-West Indies are a big threat
New Zealand also has 3 matches left. They have to face South Africa, England and Pakistan in the next matches. South Africa can challenge her but they can beat England and Pakistan. England's team is strong but its rhythm seems to be lost somewhere.
West Indies also have three matches left, out of which two matches can be called easy for them. Windies have to face Bangladesh and Pakistan who are one of the weakest teams in this tournament. If they win these two matches by a big margin then her net run rate will be better.
On the other hand, even if it gets defeated against South Africa, the team can stay above India. Talking about England, they have to win all her three matches, only then she can reach 8 points. If England achieves this feat, then the semi-final teams will be seen to be decided based on net run rate.
Match in Brief Details:
- Jhulan Goswami takes 250 wickets in International Women's Cricket, first to do so.
- Race for Semi-finals is quite on for India
- Batting collapse against England