The Women in Blue won an impressive 53-run victory against New Zealand in the 24th match of the ongoing Women’s World Cup 2025, held at DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai. Due to rain, the second innings was shortened to 44 overs, but India kept their strong pace throughout the match.
India reached the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup after excellent centuries by Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal helped them win against New Zealand using the DLS method on Thursday.
How did India bat?
India batted first and scored a strong 340 for 3 in 49 overs, after the match was shortened due to rain just before the first innings ended. After another delay, the target for New Zealand was changed to 325 runs in 44 overs using the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method. New Zealand managed 271 for 8 in their overs.
What happened in the match?
Brooke Halliday was the top scorer for New Zealand with 81 runs from 84 balls, and Isabella Gaze scored 65 runs from 51 balls.
Earlier, Jemimah Rodrigues played a quick, unbeaten 76 off 55 balls, after Mandhana and Pratika put on a 212-run partnership to give India a strong start. India had lost their previous three matches and were under pressure. Mandhana scored 109 runs from 95 balls, and Pratika made 122 runs from 134 balls. This is India’s highest total in World Cup history.
This win gave India six points from three wins, joining Australia, England, and South Africa in the semifinals.
Brief scores:
India: 340/3 in 49 overs (Smriti Mandhana 109, Pratika Rawal 122, Jemimah Rodrigues 76 not out).
New Zealand: 271/8 in 44 overs (Brooke Halliday 81, Isabella Gaze 65 not out; Renuka Singh Thakur 2/25).
