Top order powers India into semifinals

India's top order came to the party in unison to power the hosts into the 2025 Women's World Cup semifinals. Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana hit sparkling centuries whereas Jemimah Rodrigues sizzled on her return to the playing XI as the three batters combined to help India post their highest World Cup total on Thursday (October 23). Once India posted 340/3, they had one foot in the knockouts as New Zealand comfortably fell short of the target by 53 runs (DLS method).

India were on top of this contest right from the outset despite losing the toss. After four quiet overs to begin with in which India scored only 6 runs, they got going when Rawal found the boundary twice against Rosemary Mair. However, as is the case most often, it was Mandhana who was the actual aggressor as she got herself going with boundaries in the second half of the first powerplay. Even though the run rate was still under check at this stage, Mandhana slowly upped the ante with her second six of the innings before bringing up her third successive fifty.

With the partnership going past 100, these two continued to rearrange the record books. While Rawal brought up her fifty off 75 deliveries in usual fashion, Mandhana's strike rate now went past 100 as India were in complete control at the halfway mark. With all ten wickets remaining, even Rawal started to open up and hit a couple of boundaries off Lea Tahuhu in a single over. Mandhana moved into the 90s at the other end with a six and a four off Amelia Kerr before eventually getting to her 14th ODI century.

Suzie Bates, New Zealand's best bowler on the day, finally broke the double century partnership when Mandhana mistimed a slog sweep. Rodrigues then walked out with a point to prove and she didn't take long to get going. Rawal then reached her maiden World Cup hundred and immediately smashed a six to signal her intentions. But it was Rodrigues who gave India the impetus by racing to 39 off just 28 balls at one point. Once Rawal was dismissed for 122, Rodrigues reached her fifty off just 39 deliveries and continued to use her range to good effect to keep collecting boundaries. With two overs left in the innings, a frustrating rain spell kept the players indoors for a while before India got one more over to add to their tally in which they managed 11 more runs to post their highest total in World Cups.

Due to the rain break, New Zealand's target was adjusted to 325 in 44 overs. Already rattled after India's efforts with the bat, New Zealand made a poor start by losing Suzie Bates in just the second over of the chase. India's new ball bowlers made life difficult for the T20 World champions as they conceded only 14 runs from the first six overs. Georgia Plimmer finally broke the shackles with a couple of boundaries and followed that with another big over in which she smashed a six and a four to welcome Sneh Rana into the attack.

However, Renuka Singh staged a strong comeback when Plimmer dragged one onto her stumps after the end of the powerplay. In her very next over, she also breached the defence of skipper Sophie Devine to put India on top. Amerlia Kerr led a brief recovery alongside Brooke Halliday but the pressure kept mounting on New Zealand with the required rate going up. That eventually led to Kerr's dismissal.

Halliday then helped herself to a half-century and kept the scorecard moving. She had Isabelle Gaze towards the end of the chase and while New Zealand did step it up a notch, the required run rate had reached a point where catching up was almost impossible. After Halliday's departure, Gaze and Jess Kerr came up with a few lusty blows with the former even going past fifty in the process. But all that did was just reduce the losing margin.

Brief scores: India 340/3 in 49 overs (Pratika Rawal 122, Smriti Mandhana 109, Jemimah Rodrigues 76*) beat New Zealand 271/8 in 44 overs (Brooke Halliday 81, Isabelle Gaze 65*; Renuka Singh Thakur 2/25) by 53 runs (DLS method).