India’s Semifinal Hopes Still Alive: Here’s How They Can Advance After the Tough Loss to Australia Women

The ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is on its way to being wrapped up. There is just one group-stage match left before the semifinal stage. In the last group stage match, India Women and Australia Women locked horns. The match was extremely crucial for Team India as their semifinal qualification depended on this. But they ended up facing a heartbreaking defeat against the Australian women. With that, their qualification scenario becomes critical but still, there are some chances. Let’s explore how the India Women’s team qualify for the semifinal stage. 

Team India’s Heartbreaking Defeat:

After shifting from Bangladesh, the ninth edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup is taking place in the UAE. India Women started their journey with a defeat against New Zealand Women. After that, they bounced back. In their last group-stage match, they faced Australia Women. The match was exceptionally crucial as their semifinal qualification depended on this. 

The Sharjah Cricket Stadium witnessed the thrilling match. While bowling in the first innings, the Indian bowlers started dominatingly. Renukha Singh secured two quick wickets in the third over by dismissing Beth Mooney and Georgia Wareham. After that, the Australian side bounced back. While opening the innings, Grace Harris played a knock of 40 runs in 41 balls. Deepti Sharm secured 2 wickets while conceding 28 runs. Arundhati Reddy didn’t secure any wickets. The other bowlers secured 1 wicket each. 

While chasing the target of 152 runs, Team India fell short. Smriti Madhana walked away scoring only 6 runs. Shefali Verma lost her wicket while batting on 20 runs. Deepti Sharma added 29 crucial runs. The other players struggled to showcase excellence in front of the Australian bowlers. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur was the lone warrior. She remained unbeaten scoring 54 runs. They ended their innings in 142 runs and faced a disappointing 9-run defeat. 

There is still a chance to Qualify in the Semifinal:

After a disappointing defeat, Team India’s hopes of qualifying for the Women’s T20 World Cup semifinal have taken a hit. However, all is not lost, and there are still chances for them to reach the semifinal stage. India finished the group stage with four points from four games, staying in second place thanks to a better Net Run Rate than New Zealand.

New Zealand is currently level with India on four points but has a game in hand. If Pakistan manages to secure a win over New Zealand in their upcoming match, Team India will come back into contention for a semifinal spot. India’s superior NRR gives them an edge in this situation.

Now, India’s hopes hinge on Pakistan’s performance. A victory for Pakistan over New Zealand would be enough to push India through to the next stage. Now the Induan fans will be eagerly waiting to see the final outcome of the New Zealand Women and Pakistan Women. 

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