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The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India Women were handed a daunting defeat at the hands of New Zealand on Friday, October 4 in Dubai at the Women's T20 World Cup 2024. The Women in Blue failed to go past the White Ferns as they lost the match by 58 runs, hitting a roadblock at the start of the tournament. After this defeat, the India Women are reeling at the bottom of the points table.
However, they sit at the bottom of the Group A standings after each team playing a match so far in the tournament, they would be hoping for a big win to go past the other teams and keep their playoffs hopes alive. Here in this article, we’ll take a look at why the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Team India need a big win against Pakistan Women and other teams.
How can India qualify for Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final?
The Women in Blue, who sit at the fifth place in the Group A standings with one loss from their only match in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, have a Net Run Rate (NRR) of -2.900. While it the worst so far for a team at the time of writing in the 10-team event, India will hope to go past Sri Lanka after a win against Pakistan Women on Sunday, October 6.
Teams | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | No Result (NR) | Points | Net Run Rate (NRR) |
New Zealand | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +2.900 |
Australia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +1.908 |
Pakistan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +1.550 |
Sri Lanka | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.667 |
India | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2.900 |
Notably, the Women in Blue enjoy a better head-to-head record against their arch-rivals, Pakistan of 5-2 in the Women’s T20 World Cups. While Pakistan sit at third place in the Group A after their win against Sri Lanka, they boost of a NRR of +1.55. Although Sri Lanka are virtually out of semi-final contention after two losses in as many games, and a loss for India against Pakistan will also get them in a similar situation.
Meanwhile, India, in order to enter the top two and qualify for the semi-final, need to win all their remaining matches, including their final Group A match against the defending champions, Australia. Furthermore, the Women in Blue will aim to better their head-to-head record against their arch-rivals and register a comprehensive win, in order to boost their NRR, and will also hope that New Zealand wins all their games while Pakistan losses its matches.
