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India led by Harmanpreet Kaur defeat Sophie Devine’s New Zealand to reach Women’s ODI World Cup semifinals, powered by Mandhana and Pratika Rawal hundreds.
Shree Charani celebrates the wicket of New Zealand’s Brooke Halliday (Picture credit: AP)
Harmanpreet Kaur’s India beat Sophie Devine’s New Zealand by 53 runs to become the fourth and final team to qualify for the semifinals of the Women’s ODI World Cup, even as they faced a hat-trick of roadblocks in what should have been smooth sailing into the top four of a home World Cup.
Batting first, India posted 340/3 in 49 overs in a rain-curtailed game, riding on centuries from Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal, besides a brilliant 76-run knock from Jemimah Rodrigues.
In the chase, New Zealand lost Suzie Bates in just the second over before Georgia Plimmer and Amelia Kerr added 50 runs for the second wicket. New Zealand soon found themselves at 59/3, before Kerr and Brooke Halliday added 56 runs for the fourth wicket.
After Kerr was dismissed by Sneh Rana, Halliday and Maddy Green added 39 runs for the fifth wicket. After the latter was dismissed by Pratika Rawal, Halliday and wicketkeeper Isabella Gaze built a crucial 111-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
After Halliday was dismissed by Shree Charani, Gaze and Jess Kerr added 40 runs for the seventh wicket. But after the latter was dismissed by Kranti Gaud, New Zealand could only manage 271 in the 44 allotted overs.
Who will India face in the semifinals?
With a win against New Zealand, India are now on six points from as many matches and have a game against Bangladesh at hand. Assuming that they beat Bangladesh, India will finish with eight points, which means they can’t go beyond fourth place, with England already on nine points and a game against New Zealand coming up on Sunday, October 26.
As per the tournament format, the fourth-placed team will play the first-placed one. At this point, Australia are on top of the table with 11 points, while South Africa is second on 10.
The two teams will play their last league-stage game against each other on Friday and whoever wins will face India in the semifinal on October 29 in Guwahati.
India bagged a qualification even when they and New Zealand can finish on the same points on the league stage, because they will eventually finish with at least three wins, while the Kiwis can only register two wins.
October 23, 2025, 23:32 IST
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