New Delhi, India

The Indian team is all set to face Sri Lanka in the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup on Wednesday (Oct 9) with a do-or-die contest in hand. After Australia’s crushing win over New Zealand in another Group A contest on Tuesday, the Women in Blue now need to flex their muscle if they are to reach the semis of the T20 World Cup. Here are the scenarios explained for the Indian women’s team if they are to reach the semis of the Women’s T20 World Cup.

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What are the current standings?

At the time of writing, Group A is evenly poised after two matches each as Australia sit top of the standings with four points from two matches. New Zealand, Pakistan and India are on two points from two matches with Net Run Rate (NRR) separating the trio while Sri Lanka have lost both of their matches. A defeat for Sri Lanka against India on Wednesday will see them officially out of the semifinal race of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.

India’s qualification scenario

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Harmanpreet Kaur and her side have two vital games against Australia and Sri Lanka, with both matches a virtual do-or-die contests. Since New Zealand and Pakistan are set to face off in the final group match on Monday (Oct 14), at least one team will reach four points between the two. For India to qualify, NRR will play a crucial role with teams likely to end on the same number of points.

Scenario 1

For India to qualify, they must beat Sri Lanka on Wednesday while hoping Australia beat Pakistan on Friday. On the other hand, India must also pray for Sri Lanka to beat New Zealand on Saturday. In this case, only the winner of New Zealand-Pakistan can reach four points, the same as India after their win over Sri Lanka. In this case, if India beat Australia on Sunday they will be through to the semis, but in case they lose to the Aussies, it will be the NRR that will decide India’s fate, so winning by a big margin against Sri Lana will be vital.

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Scenario 2

Assuming India beat Sri Lanka on Wednesday but both New Zealand and Pakistan win their clashes before the head-to-head clash on Monday, it will be trouble for Team India. In this scenario, the winner of the New Zealand-Pakistan head-to-head contest will reach six points and will therefore mean India has to win against Australia on Sunday while also having a better NRR.

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Scenario 3

In case either of Pakistan win their initial match and lose the head-to-head contest with New Zealand while New Zealand lose the initial contest and win the head-to-head contest, in this case India could seal the semis qualification with wins over Sri Lanka and Australia. In case India win only one of the two matches, it will be the NRR that will decide India’s fate with all three teams tied on four points each.

Note: All the scenarios are calculated without rain-affected conditions, that is, no match is washed out and points are shared.