ICC Women’s World Cup: India suffers heartbreaking defeat against England; semi-final hopes suffer | Cricket News

India: What happened here has to be one of the most heartbreaking defeats ever suffered by the Indian women’s cricket team, and it puts their qualification for the semi-finals of the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup in real danger.Building on fine half-centuries from senior batter Smriti Mandhana (88 off 84 deliveries), captain Harmanpreet Kaur (70 runs off as many balls) and Deepti Sharma, who produced a brilliant all-round performance (50 off 57 deliveries and 4-51 in 10 overs), India looked set to chase down 289, which would have been their most successful run highest ever achieved in WODIs, but only lost four. Sunday, on a smoggy night at Holkar Stadium.After securing a thrilling victory by keeping their composure, England became the third team after Australia and South Africa to qualify for the semi-finals, while India, who suffered their third consecutive defeat, must now defeat New Zealand at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on October 23 to sneak in as the fourth semi-finalist. It was also the first time that the Indian women’s team played a WODI at the Holkar Stadium.The star of England’s victory was their former captain Heather Knight, who was stripped of her captaincy last year after England exited the semi-finals of the Women’s T20 World Cup and lost the Ashes to Australia 16-0. Playing in her historic 300th international match, Knight indeed proved to be England’s ‘knight in shining armor’ as she smashed a splendid century (109 off 91 balls, with 15 boundaries and a six), which helped her team post a competitive score of 288 for eight against the hosts. India needed 14 runs in the last over with all-rounders Amanjot Kaur and Sneh Rana in the middle, but left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, who conceded just 1-40 in 10 overs in a high-scoring match, surrendered only nine. Chasing 289 under lights, India suffered two early blows when opener Pratika Rawal (6) was caught by Lauren Bell in the third over, who returned to action after missing the last match due to illness and number 3 batter Harleen Deol (24 off 31 balls) caught squarely in front while trying to play towards off-spinner Charlie Dean. The duo of Harmanpreet and Mandhana bowled 125 off 122 balls for the third wicket to spark visions of an easy victory, but India continued to lose wickets at the wrong time. Trying to cut the ball repeatedly towards third man, Harmanpreet was caught behind England captain Nat-Sciver Brunt at third in the 31st over. Tired due to cramps, Mandhana managed to get away from Smith in the 42nd minute. Sciver-Brunt then had Richa Ghosh (eight off 10 balls) caught at cover in the 46th over, and suddenly India, lagging behind the required run rate, had no one to force the pace. Once Deepti swept Sophie Ecclestone to mid-wicket in the 47th over, the match was in England’s hands. Earlier, demonstrating his incredible prowess in sweeping spinners, Knight, 34, reached his third ODI ton and his highest ever score in WODIs. Spinning the strike brilliantly while freeing boundaries, she completed a stand-off stand of 113 runs off 106 deliveries with skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt.Earlier in the competition, against Bangladesh in Guwahati, England had fallen to a precarious score of 103 for 6, before their former captain took them home with an unbeaten 79.However, it wasn’t just Knight who stamped his authority on the game. At a time when India were looking for answers after keeper Amy Jones (56 off 68) and Tammy Beaumont (22 off 43) provided England with a steady start of 73 runs in 97 balls, Deepti brought India back into the match by scalping both wickets. Deepti finished with her best ever figures in ODI World Cups and with 13 bats in five matches, stands out as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament.After Knight finally departed – run out thanks to some brilliant work to deep square leg from Amanjot Kaur, who recovered quickly after a misfield and fired in a pinpoint delivery in the 45th over – India bounced back in sensational fashion, taking five wickets for 39 runs. In fact, all England, with their middle-order frailties exposed once again, managed to score was 42 runs in their last six overs, losing five wickets, with two being bowled out. Things would have been worse for England had they failed to take 11 runs in the final over of the innings, bowled by Shree Charani.

Brought into the attack in the 16th over, Deepti dislodged Beaumont’s leg stump after the batter missed a sweep, thereby registering her 150th WODI scalp in her 117th WODI.Making a comeback at the expense of batter Jemimah Rodrigues, seamer Renuka Singh Thakur justified India’s decision to play six bowlers by conceding 0-37 in eight overs, although she failed to score early.