India’s final match in the group stage at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is against Ireland.
India’s loss to England in the present ICC T20 World Cup has not eliminated their prospects of reaching the semifinals, but it may have significant long-term consequences. Harmanpreet Kaur’s India team would have been one step closer to the semifinals if they had beaten England. However, they were unable to catch up to the score of 152. The future of India is now out of their control. Based on their current form and rating, India still has a good chance of advancing to the semifinals, although this is by no means assured.
With three wins from as many matches and six total points, England now sits atop Group 2. With four points and two victories from three games, India is in second place. With one win and two losses from their first two games, Pakistan sits in third place with a total of two points. With just one victory in three games, the Windies are currently in fourth place, with two points to their name. After three games, Ireland is in last place because they are winless.
India’s prospects of making the semifinals rest greatly on the outcome of Sunday’s match between Pakistan and the West Indies.
India will be watching Sunday’s encounter between the West Indies and Pakistan very closely. Both squads have one game remaining and are two points behind the Ladies in Blue in the standings. Pakistan poses a significant danger to its competitors due to its schedule and higher net-run rate.
India will benefit greatly if the Windies beat Pakistan. It will mean a four-point draw between the Windies and India. Due to their lower net run rate, the Windies have a slim chance of overtaking India in the standings. It will also prevent Pakistan from gaining any further ground before their decisive match against England.
If Pakistan were to suffer a defeat, they would need to win their final group stage game against England by a margin of at least four points and hope that India would suffer a defeat against Ireland in order to go to the semifinals. Both teams will end with four points, but Pakistan will pass India thanks to a higher net run rate.
In case Pakistan wins over West Indies:
Pakistan currently has two points, however, a win will give them four points and put them ahead of India in the NRR standings before their final match against England. To have any chance of advancing from their group, India must win their final encounter against Ireland. If India succeeds, Pakistan would need to beat England in order to prevent their archrivals from reaching the semifinals.
If India were to lose against Ireland, they would need England to thrash Pakistan by an enormous margin for the NRR to drastically shift in England’s favor.
Is India having trouble finishing in the top two?
India still has a chance to win Group B and move on to the playoffs, but they must overcome NRR to do it. In order to ensure a resounding victory over Ireland, they must now hope that England will also suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of Pakistan. These two factors are the only ones that can tip the NRR balance in India’s favor.
The Indian team would not be concerned with a runner-up finish, as that would guarantee a spot in the semifinals. Yet India has the incentive to avoid coming in second: the loser of Group 2 will face Australia in the semi-finals.
With Australia’s current form, they are an opponent that most teams would prefer to avoid until the very end of the competition.
Australia is the best team in the world at Twenty20 cricket and is aiming for a hat trick of World Cup victories. Since winning the tournament in 2020, they have played 22 matches using this format and have won 22 of them, losing only two to New Zealand.
India’s record versus Australia hasn’t been stellar recently, either. India lost to them in the final of the cricket tournament at the Commonwealth Games in August and finished with silver. After that, in December, India lost the T20I series at home to Australia by a score of 4-1.
The final group-stage encounter for India will be played against Ireland on Monday.
