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WWC 2025: India and New Zealand in must-win territory with rain in the Navi Mumbai air
The pressure on India is higher than ever. Three successive losses in matches they could have won, mounting criticism, and five games in, they are still tinkering with combinations. But they now return to Navi Mumbai, a venue many in the squad know well through T20Is and the WPL, needing just a win against New Zealand to reach the semi-finals.
New Zealand haven’t had it easy either. Their last two matches were washed out, and qualification now requires them to win both remaining games, against India and England. It’s a tougher ask, but not beyond a side that just celebrated the first anniversary of their T20 World Cup win, where they beat India in the opening match. They have won 34 out of the 57 ODIs against India, including six of their last nine encounters since 2022.
Their campaign this time started with heavy defeats to Australia and South Africa, before they bounced back against Bangladesh. But they remain over-reliant on Sophie Devine with the bat, and their thin spin attack – with just Amelia Kerr and Eden Carson – has had limited impact on slower pitches.
India, on the other hand, have had different contributors in every game but haven’t settled on a clear first-choice XI. After four matches with five bowlers, they dropped Jemimah Rodrigues to play an extra bowler against England. The move did seem to work as England were kept to 288 for 8 after a strong start, but India’s batting faltered under pressure in the chase, which has been a familiar story. They will want to address that.
The weather could, however, have a say. Devine called the washouts in Colombo “frustrating” , and the forecast for today isn’t encouraging either. Rain hit Navi Mumbai for over two hours in the evening two days before the match, cancelling India’s training session. A washout, however, would favour India, considering New Zealand have a tougher opponent in England to face in their last game, and just haven’t been able to get any sort of momentum going.
After a promising start to the tournament, India’s young pacer Kranti Gaud has hit a bit of a bump. Her early spells, full of discipline and pinpoint yorkers, have been impressive, but her death bowling has come under the scanner. Against South Africa, she opened with a tidy 1 for 19 in five overs, only to concede 40 off her final four. She went wicketless in the last two games, conceding 73 runs off nine overs against Australia and 46 off eight against England. On a Navi Mumbai surface expected to be more batter-friendly, Gaud will need to recalibrate quickly if India are to keep New Zealand quiet.
New Zealand are still waiting for their openers to turn up. Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer have endured a poor run – their partnership average of 10.66 is the second-worst among all teams this tournament. Bates followed two ducks with a 29 (run out) against Bangladesh, while Plimmer has managed just 35 runs across three games, struggling for fluency throughout. A more batting-friendly pitch probably awaits them at the DY Patil Stadium, where they will hope to give their side a strong start.
Will India revert to five bowlers for the crucial fixture? While their bowlers pulled things back well in the last ten overs against England, India might think they need the experience of Rodrigues at No. 5.
India (possible): Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh/Jemimah Rodrigues, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani
New Zealand had kept their senior pacer Lea Tahuhu out tactically in the match against Sri Lanka, but brought her back in for the Pakistan game. They are likely to stay with the same XI.
New Zealand (possible): Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine (capt), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze (wk), Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Eden Carson, Lea Tahuhu
[Cricinfo]
The India and Zimbabwe women’s teams are all set to play an international fixture against each other for the first time when Zimbabwe tour India for white-ball fixtures this October.
The tour comprises three T20Is and three ODIs and will be Zimbabwe’s first visit to India; India are yet to tour Zimbabwe for bilateral fixtures.
The three T20Is will be played in Raipur on October 16, 18 and 20, and the ODIs are on October 23, 25 and 28 in Baroda.
The fixtures were announced by the BCCI on Wednesday, along with two home series for the India A women’s side against Australia A in September and England A in December. Both those series comprise three T20s, three List A games and one multi-day fixture.
The India Under-19 women’s team will also host Sri Lanka U-19 in June and July for three T20s and three 50-over games, and England U-19 in November and December for five T20 fixtures.
The Australia A men’s side will tour India for two multi-day fixtures and three one-dayers in September and October, while the Australia U-19 side will visit India for two multi-day fixtures and three one-dayers also in September and October.
[Cricinfo]
Oil prices have dropped and global stock markets have risen following reports that the US and Iran are close to a deal to end the war.
Brent crude futures, the global benchmark oil price, fell to $97 (£73) a barrel after the reports before rebounding to over $101. The price was over $108 earlier in the day.
The FTSE 100 index of London’s largest public firms and Germany’s Dax index closed over 2% up while the French Cac 40 was up 3%. Asian indexes also ended the day higher while the US S&P 500 was up by more than 1% over the day.
The market movements come after Axios reported that the US believes it is close to a one-page document which will end the war and set up detailed nuclear talks.
Hours later, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson told Iranian Students’ News Agency that the US proposal to end the war with Iran was still being considered.
However, not long after that, Trump suggested a deal could still be a way off.
He said on Truth Social that any agreement by the Iranians is “a big assumption” and that a failure to come to a deal will result at bombardments “at a much higher level and intensity ” than was the case during Operation Epic Fury.
Oil prices are still much higher than the $70 a barrel they were hovering around before the start of the US-Israel war with Iran, which has caused caused production and transportation of oil in the region to slump.
Central to the conflict is Iran’s threat to attack oil ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway south of the country, in response to US-Israeli strikes since 28 February.
About a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually cross the strait, which has been effectively closed for weeks. Global gas prices have also soared since the conflict began.
As for stock markets, the big European bourses are lower than they were at the end of February, while the S&P 500 climbed by more than 1%.
The main Asian markets all rose on Wednesday, with the South Korean Kospi closing up 6.45%, the Hong Kong Hang Seng ending the day up 1.22%, and the Japanese Nikkei finishing 0.38% higher.
The Hang Seng is down since the start of war, but the other two are up.
[BBC]
Pakistan Women 343/4 in 50 overs (Sadaf Shamas 101, Gull Feroza 100, Sidra Amin 59; Christina Mutasa 1-19, Lindokuhle Mabhero 1-52, Olinder Chare 1-40, Nomvelo Sibanda 1-61) beat Zimbabwe Women 137 in 39 overs (Runyararo Pasipanodya 33*; Fatima Sana 3-15, Diana Baig 1-23, Momina Riasat 2-39, Rameem Shamim 2-20, Syed Aroob Shah 2-18) by 206 runs
Joint programme between President’s Fund and Janashakthi Foundation to expand healthcare facilities for children
Maldivian President concludes state visit to Sri Lanka
India to host Zimbabwe for maiden women’s bilateral series
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Govt. draws flak over Rs. 500 mn excess Aswesuma payments
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