Women's WC: India suffer heartbreaking defeat to England; semi-final hopes dented

Indore: What transpired present has to beryllium 1 of the astir heart-breaking defeats ever suffered by the Indian Women’s cricket team, and it puts their qualification to the semifinals of the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup successful existent danger.Riding connected good half-centuries by elder batters Smriti Mandhana (88 from 84 deliveries), skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (70 runs from arsenic galore balls) and Deepti Sharma, who produced a superb all-round show (50 from 57 deliveries and 4-51 successful 10 overs), India looked acceptable to pursuit down 289, which would’ve been their highest-ever tally pursuit successful WODIs, but fell conscionable 4 runs abbreviated connected a smoggy nighttime astatine the Holkar Stadium connected Sunday.

Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Pulling disconnected a thrilling triumph by keeping their nerves, England became the 3rd squad aft Australia and South Africa to suffice for the semifinals, portion India, who suffered their 3rd nonaccomplishment successful a row, indispensable present decision New Zealand astatine the DY Patil Stadium successful Navi Mumbai connected October 23 to sneak successful arsenic the 4th semifinalists. This was besides the archetypal clip that the Indian women's squad played a WODI astatine the Holkar Stadium.The prima of England’s triumph was their erstwhile skipper Heather Knight, who was removed arsenic the skipper past twelvemonth aft England exited the semifinals of the Women’s T20 World Cup and mislaid the Ashes to Australia 16-0. Playing successful her landmark 300th planetary match, Knight so proved to beryllium England's 'Knight successful shining armour' arsenic she smashed a splendid period (109 disconnected 91 balls, featuring 15 boundaries and a six) which helped her squad station a competitory 288 for 8 against the hosts.

India needed 14 disconnected the past implicit with allrounders Amanjot Kaur and Sneh Rana successful the middle, but left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, who conceded conscionable 1-40 successful 10 overs successful a high-scoring game, gave distant conscionable nine. Chasing 289 nether lights, India suffered 2 aboriginal blows erstwhile opener Pratika Rawal (6) was caught down disconnected Lauren Bell successful the 3rd over, who returned to enactment aft missing the past lucifer owed to unwellness and fig 3 batter Harleen Deol (24 disconnected 31 balls) caught plumb successful beforehand portion trying to play crossed to off-spinner Charlie Dean. The duo of Harmanpreet and Mandhana enactment connected 125 successful 122 balls for the 3rd wicket to rise visions of an casual win, but India kept losing wickets astatine the incorrect time. Trying to chopped the shot repeatedly towards 3rd man, Harmanpreet was caught astatine abbreviated 3rd disconnected England skipper Nat-Sciver Brunt successful the 31st over. Tiring owed to cramps, Mandhana holed retired to agelong disconnected off Smith successful the 42nd over. Sciver-Brunt past had Richa Ghosh (eight disconnected 10 balls) caught astatine screen successful the 46th over, and suddenly, India, falling down the required tally rate, had nary 1 to unit the pace. Once Deepti slog-swept Sophie Ecclestone to heavy mid-wicket successful the 47th over, the crippled was successful England’s hands. Earlier, displaying her astonishing prowess astatine sweeping the spinners, the 34-year-old Knight powered to her 3rd ODI ton and highest-ever people successful WODIs. Rotating the onslaught brilliantly portion unleashing boundaries too, she stitched a 113-run basal disconnected 106 deliveries with skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt.Earlier successful the competition, against Bangladesh successful Guwahati, England had slipped to a precarious 103 for 6, earlier their erstwhile skipper took them location with an unbeaten 79.However, it wasn't conscionable Knight unsocial who stamped her authorization connected the game. At a clip erstwhile India were searching for answers aft 'keeper-bat Amy Jones (56 disconnected 68) and Tammy Beaumont (22 disconnected 43) provided England with a dependable 73-run commencement successful 97 balls, Deepti brought India backmost successful the crippled by scalping some the wickets. Deepti finished with her best-ever figures successful ODI World Cups and with 13 sticks successful 5 matches, stands isolated arsenic the highest wicket-taker successful the tournament.After Knight was yet gone - tally retired owed to a superb enactment astatine heavy quadrate limb by Amanjot Kaur, who recovered rapidly aft a misfield and fired successful a pin-point close propulsion successful the 45th implicit - India bounced backmost successful sensational fashion, taking 5 wickets for 39 runs. In fact, each that England, with their middle-order frailties exposed erstwhile again, managed to score, was 42 runs successful their past six overs, losing 5 wickets, with 2 of them being tally outs. Things would’ve been worse for England had they not managed to instrumentality 11 disconnected the last implicit of the innings, bowled by Shree Charani.

Introduced into the onslaught successful the 16th over, Deepti dislodged Beaumont's limb stump aft the batter missed a sweep, frankincense signaling her 150th WODI scalp successful her 117th WODI.Making a comeback astatine the disbursal of batter Jemimah Rodrigues, seamer Renuka Singh Thakur justified India’s determination to play six bowlers by conceding 0-37 successful 8 overs, though she failed to marque an aboriginal strike.