India finally qualified for the Women’s World Cup semifinals as the 4th team after they defeated New Zealand by 53 runs in a rain-truncated match in Navi Mumbai on Thursday. Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal scored centuries while Jemimah Rodrigues slammed 76 as India posted 340/3 in 49 overs, with one over cut due to rain disruption. After that, the rain played spoilsport once again in the innings break as the match was shortened further, with the DLS coming into effect giving New Zealand a target of 325 in 44 overs. Ultimately, it was too much for the Kiwis as they managed to put on 271/8 before running out of overs.
But here you may ask a question that how India qualified for the semifinals with both teams still having one more match in hand. India who are on 6 points will play Bangladesh on Sunday while New Zealand take on England. If New Zealand beat England and India lose to Bangladesh both teams would be on same points and depending on how both matches went, New Zealand could have clawed back the deficit in run rate. But we won’t have this scenario because of the ICC tournament rules.
What does the rule say?
According to rule, in the event of teams finishing on equal points in the league stage, the ordering of teams will be decided in the following order of priority:
– The team with the greatest number of wins in the league matches will be placed in the higher position.
– If there are teams with equal points and equal wins in the league matches, then in such case the teams will be ordered according to their net run rate (NRR) in the league matches.
3
WINS SECURED INDIA’S SPOT
New Zealand can only reach 2 wins maximum
The Qualification Scenario
Current Standing
India: 6 points, 3 wins
New Zealand: 4 points, 1 win
Both have 1 match left
Even If Scenario
NZ beats England
India loses to Bangladesh
Both reach 6 points
India’s 3 wins vs New Zealand’s maximum 2 wins ensures qualification regardless of final match results
ICC Tie-Breaking Rules (Priority Order)
1
Team with the greatest number of wins in league matches placed higher
2
If equal wins, teams ordered by Net Run Rate (NRR) in league matches
3
If still equal, head-to-head results decide (points, then NRR in those matches)
4
If unresolved, teams ordered by original league seedings
Indian Express InfoGenIE
– If two or more teams are still equal, they will be ordered according to the result of the head-to-head match played between them (points, then if still equal, NRR in those matches.
– If the above does not resolve the league ordering, or if all matches within the league stage produce no results, the teams will be ordered as per their original league seedings.
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In the current scenario, even if New Zealand get a win against England, they can get to two wins at best even if India lose to Bangladesh. Meanwhile, India have already chalked up 3 wins by virtue of which they qualified to the semifinals.
