At Old Trafford in Manchester, England, India has edged closer to a Women’s Twenty20 World Cup semifinal spot after a five-wicket victory over Bangladesh on Thursday, putting the team in position to punch its ticket to the knockout stage with an upset over undefeated Australia this weekend.
Despite a disjointed, error-riddled fielding performance that saw Indian players drop four early catches and medium-pacer Nandni Sharma receive two official warnings for overstepping the pitch mark, India still restricted Bangladesh to a total of 136 runs for the loss of 8 wickets at the close of the innings. Bangladesh’s struggle to capitalize on India’s fielding mistakes stemmed from a critical gap in its lineup: a lack of power hitters capable of turning small errors into a match-winning big total. The team’s top scorers were Juairiya Ferdous, who notched 33 runs before being caught and bowled by Nandni in the ninth over, and captain Nigar Sultana, who contributed 32 runs before being stumped late in the innings.
India’s successful chase got off to a flying start thanks to a lucky break for star batter Shafali Verma: Bangladesh wicketkeepers dropped Verma behind the stumps in the very first over, an error that would prove decisive. Verma took full advantage of the second chance, powering India to 63 runs for the loss of just one wicket during the powerplay segment, and hit a 29-ball half-century—her second fifty of the entire tournament. Though she was stumped for 53 runs shortly after reaching the milestone, her early blitz put India firmly in control of the chase. Additional contributions from Yastika Bhatia (23 runs) and Jemimah Rodrigues (26 runs) saw India cross the finish line at 139 for 5 with a full 19 balls left to spare.
Speaking after the match, Verma expressed mild disappointment with her own performance, saying, “Was sad I got out. Would’ve been happier had I batted through.”
The win sets up a winner-takes-all final group stage match against four-time unbeaten Australia, scheduled for this Sunday at London’s iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground, which has already sold out all tickets for the highly anticipated clash. Australia has cruised to four wins from four matches so far in the tournament, including a victory over South Africa—the same side that handily defeated India just last week.
Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur made her team’s ambitions clear following the win over Bangladesh, stating, “All set for Australia. We’ll get a lot of confidence if we win that.”
Later the same day, South Africa was scheduled to face off against the Netherlands in their own group stage fixture.