England became the third team to book a semifinal spot in the Women's ODI World Cup 2025 after their thrilling four-run win against India in Indore on Sunday (October 19). The win took Nat Sciver-Brunt's girls to nine points from five games, level with Australia who stay on top due to a superior net run rate.
Meanwhile, the loss was India's third straight defeat of the tournament and they stay on four points from five games with two left to play.
It was a game where both innings had a similar trend to it. The first 30-odd overs seemed quite smooth sailing for the batting side before they lost a cluster of wickets at the back end to endure a middling finish. Chasing an under-par target of 289 on a good batting surface in Indore, India were cruising at 167/2 in the 31st over with Harmanpreet Kaur (70) and Smriti Mandhana (88) going great guns.
That winning feeling! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/x8dNNEM8hn
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 19, 2025
However, Kaur fell against the run of play, against her English counterpart to break the game open. It was still India's game to lose and Mandhana found an able partner in Deepti Sharma as the chase continued to have a decent tempo. At 234/3 in the 42nd over, the game seemed all but over. England, though, refused to back away and when Mandhana fell to Linsey Smith, a twist seemed possible for the visitors.
If the Kaur breakthrough was big, Sciver-Brunt produced another defining moment in the game when she had the dangerous Richa Ghosh cheaply. This meant that England could dictate the tempo of the innings, given that Deepti isn't historically known for her powerhitting, even with her recent improvements.
Just like that, the asking rate shot up and when Deepti fell to Smith, the tables had turned and how! Sneh Rana and Amanjot Kaur did have the power game to still get the job done but today wasn't their night. England's death bowling gave the duo nothing to work with, except the final ball of the innings which went for four. By then, the game had already been sealed.
Earlier in the evening, England's innings had a similar trajectory as they imploded completely after being 211/2 at one point through Heather Knight's century (109) and her 113-run stand with Nat Sciver-Brunt (38). India's spin duo of Deepti Sharma and Shree Charani ensured that England couldn't get the desired finish to the innings.
Only 39 runs came off the last 33 balls of England's innings but their total of 288 still proved to be enough, even if only just. This defeat now puts India on the brink and makes the India-New Zealand game a virtual shootout with both teams baying for that one semifinal spot that is remaining.
Brief scores: England 288/8 (Heather Knight 109; Deepti Sharma 4-51) beat India 284/6 (Smriti Mandhana 88, Harmanpreet Kaur 70; Sciver-Brunt 2-47) by four runs
