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India’s journey to reach the semi-finals in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England has become quite challenging.
However, in Group 1 of six teams, India has played three matches so far, out of which it has won two and lost one.
In the third match played in Manchester on Sunday, India was defeated by South Africa by 6 wickets.
Earlier, India had registered a resounding victory against Netherlands by 95 runs and against Pakistan by 64 runs.
The teams of Pakistan and Netherlands are out of the race for the semi-finals.
What is the challenge now?
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Now four teams remain in the race to reach the semi-finals from Group-1 and all the teams have played three matches each.
Australia is the strongest team in the group, sitting on top with six points, having won all three of their matches and having a net run rate of +4.391. For these reasons, it is almost certain that he will reach the semi-finals.
Whereas in the points table, India is at second position, South Africa is at third and Bangladesh is at fourth position.
India’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals are looking bleak because all the three teams India, South Africa and Bangladesh have won two out of their three matches and lost one. All three teams have four points each.
India’s next match will be against a strong team like Bangladesh on Thursday and Australia on Sunday.
How can India reach the semi-finals?
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Due to tough competition in the points table, now net run rate can also play a big role in deciding which teams will reach the semi-finals.
Besides, the matches of the contending teams can also clarify a lot.
India’s next two matches are against Bangladesh and Australia. Their wins over Pakistan and Netherlands by huge margins have given them a huge lead in net run rate.
India’s net run rate is currently +2.511 while South Africa and Bangladesh’s net run rate is negative.
If both India and South Africa win their remaining matches, then India’s better net run rate can help it reach the semi-finals.
But if he faces defeat in any match, his path ahead will become difficult.
A lot depends on South Africa’s performance
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South Africa also has two matches left against Netherlands and Bangladesh. South Africa’s T20 World Cup campaign started with a defeat against Australia, which significantly affected its net run rate.
After this, the South African team defeated Pakistan in a close match and then registered a spectacular victory against India and kept itself in the race for the semi-finals.
However, his net run rate is still -0.546, due to which his position remains weak. To move forward, South Africa may need not just to win, but to win by a large margin.
But their matches are against teams like Netherlands and Bangladesh which are considered much weaker than Australia. Whereas India is competing with Australia.
If we talk about Bangladesh, its two matches are against India and South Africa.
Bangladesh started their campaign with a win over the Netherlands, but a nine-wicket defeat against Australia took a huge toll on their net run rate. Bangladesh’s net run rate is -0.641.
The win against Pakistan has kept them in the race for the semi-finals, but their position is considered to be the most critical among the three teams.
He has very little margin for error in the remaining matches against India and South Africa.
To remain in the race for the semi-finals, Bangladesh will not only have to win matches but will also have to make a big improvement in their net run rate.
If we talk about Group 2, then there is a high possibility of England and West Indies reaching the semi-finals.
Both the teams have played three matches each and have won all three. Both teams have six points each.
Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.