How Team India Can Qualify For Women's World Cup Semifinals After South Africa Setback
India face a tricky road ahead in the bid to qualify for the Women's World Cup 2025 semifinals.
- India lost to South Africa in the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 after two wins
- India must win three of the four remaining matches to reach the semi-finals
- India face Australia on October 12 in Visakhapatnam in a crucial match
After two victories in their ICC Women's World Cup 2025 campaign, India suffered a defeat at the hands of South Africa on Thursday. The defeat does not derail India's bid to secure a spot in the semi-finals of the tournament, but it does complicate things, especially in the wake of the fixtures that are to follow next. India's hunt for a spot in the top four remains fairly in their own control, but Harmanpreet Kaur's side has to win three of its remaining four matches in the league stage in order to qualify for the semi-finals.
India are due to face defending champions Australia on Sunday, October 12, in Visakhapatnam. Arguably the most challenging fixture for India in the campaign, Harmanpreet's side would be keen to overcome the Australian obstacle. After that, they are scheduled to face England and New Zealand, two more sides that have what it takes to go all the way in the tournament.
India's Remaining ODI World Cup 2025 Schedule:
Sunday, October 12: India vs Australia (3:00 PM IST) at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam
Sunday, October 19: India vs England (3:00 PM IST) at Holkar Stadium, Indore
Thursday, October 23: India vs New Zealand (3:00 PM IST) at Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai
Sunday, October 26: India vs Bangladesh (3:00 PM IST) at Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai
Harmanpreet Kaur Criticises India's Top Order
After the defeat against South Africa, India captain Harmanpreet was quick to pin the blame on the top order. Going forward, the skipper has urged the top-order batters to pull up their socks for the remainder of the campaign.
"Tough game. Both teams played really well. Even though we collapsed while batting, we still managed to put 250 on the board. In the end, Chloe and de Klerk batted really well, they showed it was a very good pitch and they deserved to win with the way they batted. Richa has always been outstanding for us. She is someone who can always turn the game. And today the way she was hitting, we all were very pleased to see that. She is someone who can always hit those big sixes and get a big total on the board. And I think today she played it really beautifully. Hopefully, she will continue. As a top-order we did not take responsibility and lost too many wickets, we need to go back to the process. We kept losing wickets when we were in the middle," she said.
India Women