How India can qualify for the semifinals of the Women’s T20 World Cup cricket

Indians will cheer for New Zealand who face off against Australia in Sharjah today (October 8). A New Zealand win should provide India an easier route to the semifinals of the Women’s T20 World Cup. That explains the newfound enthusiasm for the Kiwis.

The league phase can be tricky, especially if a group has three strong teams. One loss can jeopardise the prospects of progressing in the tournament. That’s true of Group A, where Australia, India, New Zealand and Pakistan are jostling for a place in the last four.

A loss to New Zealand has left India struggling to qualify. They have to win the remaining games, including beating six-time winners Australia by a healthy margin. Not an easy task. India will have to play out of their socks to bring down the defending champions, but a rout may be near impossible.

When a win didn’t feel like a win

India’s fortunes nosedived after failing to lift the net run rate (NRR) in the win over Pakistan. The scrappy win exposed their lack of confidence, which may undermine their efforts to raise the scoring rate in the games against Sri Lanka. Even if they do, Australia stands in their way.

How did India land on the sticky wicket? Much of it stems from their big loss to New Zealand. The Kiwis not only racked up a good score, which naturally gave them a healthy run rate, but also dismissed India cheaply.

That left India in a pickle. They must win the remaining matches well enough to lift the run rate. That didn’t happen against Pakistan. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side focused more on winning, more precisely not losing, rather than raising the net run rate.

Opener Smriti Mandhana admitted that she and Shafali Verma couldn’t go hard in the powerplay as they struggled with their timing. “We did think about it [NRR]. Me and Shafali could not time the ball. We didn’t want to end up losing a lot of wickets. We were a little calculative. The NRR is in our head,” she said in a post-match chat with the broadcaster.

If Mandhana and Verma could not find the boundaries, what about the rest? There was no urgency from other Indian batters, which was strange. Even when the match was in the bag, they adopted the safe approach of sending Deepti Sharma instead of Sajana Sajeevan, who can clout the ball. A defensive mindset, indeed.

That mindset seems to have undermined India’s prospects in the tournament. A semifinal prospect looks like a mirage.

How New Zealand can help India

Now, why do India want New Zealand to beat Australia? A Kiwi win would put India and Australia on par. That’s if the Aussies beat Pakistan and India defeat Sri Lanka. Then the India-Australia clash will be like a quarterfinal — the winners will take the second semifinal slot from Group A. Simply put, it will remove the net run rate from the equation.

That seems to be the best option for India. For that, they have to rely on New Zealand. Can the Kiwis win? They have returned to form to snap a 10-match losing streak, but the Sharjah wicket is tricky. Spin is king there, and Australia, who have played Sri Lanka at the venue, are better equipped to deal with the vagaries of the pitch.

Australia are the defending champions. Perhaps the best side in the tournament. A New Zealand win will be an upset. That’s what India wants.