Women's T20 World Cup: Why India's semis chances look grim despite Pakistan win

India finally opened their account in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 as they beat Pakistan by six wickets in their second match on Sunday, October 6 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. After opting to bat first, Pakistan scored 105/8 in their allotted 20 overs with Nida Dar top scoring with her innings of 28 (34).

In reply, India chased down the target in 18.5 overs courtesy of good contributions from Shafali Verma (32 off 35) and captain Harmanpreet Kaur (29* off 24). Arundhati Reddy was adjudged Player of the Match as she registered her career best figures of 3/19 in four overs.

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Following their victory, India are in the fourth spot in the five-team group with one win from two matches having a net run rate of -1.217. The time taken to complete the victory over Pakistan has improved their net run rate just slightly as it has gone from -2.90 to -1.217.

In order to bring their net run rate into positive, India had to chase down the target in 11 overs which would’ve brought their net run rate to +0.084. However, they missed out on the opportunity as openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana (7 off 16) got their team off to a measured start.

India have the second-worst NRR in Group A

Hence, India still have the worst run rate among teams who’ve won in Group A with New Zealand (+2.900), Australia (+1.908) and Pakistan (+0.555) sitting above them. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will next face Sri Lanka in their third fixture on Wednesday, October 9 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

The Asia Cup Champions are yet to register their first win of the tournament, having been hammered by Pakistan and Australia. The Women in Blue will desperately need to beat Sri Lanka by a huge margin to get their net run rate into positive before they face the defending champions Australia in their last fixture on October 13.

If India don’t improve their net run rate in the next game, they will have to depend on New Zealand to also beat Australia and win all of their matches. In such a scenario, India will directly advance to the semi-finals by winning their last two fixtures against Sri Lanka and Australia. However, if Australia don’t lose to New Zealand, India will have to surpass either Australia’s or New Zealand’s net run rate to progress ahead in the tournament. Hence, their next fixture is extremely crucial for them which could well decide their fate in the tournament.

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