The Indian women’s cricket team started their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign on the wrong note as they were handed a 58-run thrashing by New Zealand.
The result not only meant the loss of two points but India got a beating in the Net Run Rate (NRR) too because of the huge margin of the defeat.
But the Women in Blue came back strongly with back-to-back wins in their next two group games against arch-rivals Pakistan and neighbours Sri Lanka. The 82-run win against Sri Lanka in Dubai on Wednesday was a shot in the arm to India’s campaign as they made up good ground on the NRR front too.
The result opened up Group A with all teams but Sri Lanka still having a chance to qualify for the semi-finals. Sri Lanka having lost all three games are out of the competition and can play party spoilers for other teams that are in contention.
Defending champions Australia are the other side in Group A and are currently sitting at the top of the pile comfortably with four points winning both their games. The Aussies also boast of an envious NRR of +2.524.
India are second with four points too but they have played a game more than the Aussies and have a lower NRR of 0.576. Pakistan and New Zealand are third and fourth, respectively, with two points each. The Women in Green have an NRR of 0.555 while the Kiwis are in the red with an NRR of -0.050, courtesy of their big loss to Australia.
How can India qualify for Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 semi-finals
The current edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup has a total of 10 teams with five teams in each group. Each team will play the other four sides once in a single round-robin format in the league stage.
The top two teams in each group after the league engagements will advance to the semifinals of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. In case there is a tie between teams with respect to points, then NRR will take precedence. The team with the higher NRR among the two teams will make the cut.
Here’s a closer look at how India can qualify for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 semi-finals.
Scenario 1: If India win against Australia
In case India win their final league game against reigning world champions Australia, they will end the league stage with six points. But the Aussies will still be on level terms with India if they win against Pakistan.
If the Aussies win that game against Pakistan, then the Women in Green will be out of contention. New Zealand, provided they win both their remaining games against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, will come to level terms with both India and Australia and the two teams with better NRR will proceed.
If New Zealand fail to win any one of their matches then India and Australia will go through.
If Australia lose their next match against Pakistan then it becomes straightforward for India as they can qualify with a win over the Aussies.
Scenario 2: If India lose against Australia
Australia will make their way to the semi-final if they beat India irrespective of their tie against Pakistan. That will leave India at the mercy of other teams for further qualification.
India will finish at four points but New Zealand will have a chance to leapfrog them to six points with wins in their remaining matches. In that case, India will be knocked out.
If Pakistan beats Australia and India lose to the Aussies as well then the Women in Blue will need Pakistan to lose to New Zealand in the final group game. Before that the Kiwis should have lost to Sri Lanka, if not they will qualify with Australia.
India will bow out if either Pakistan or New Zealand win both their matches. A win and a loss for both teams will see them level with India on four points.
The NRR comes into the scene again with the better amongst the three teams qualifying to the semi-finals along with Australia.
Photo credit: Imago
