After suffering three consecutive defeats, India emerged victorious in a must-win clash against New Zealand to qualify for the ICC Women's World Cup semi-final. 

The Women in Blue became the last team to reach the knockouts, joining Australia, England and South Africa. They posted a big total on the board, 340, which would be more than enough.

After the win, Harmanpreet Kaur, the team's captain, praised openers Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal for taking the responsibility in a match as such and providing a solid start.

"To be honest, we were getting starts, but unfortunately, we were not able to make it big, but that self belief was there, that we are getting starts and its the right time to now make it big, and credit goes to Smriti and Pratika, the way they took the responsibility and played a crucial inning for the team."

Indian Openers Post a 200+ Run Partnership vs NZ

Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal both scored tons in the India vs New Zealand Women's World Cup match. Their partnership crossed the 200-run mark, which set the tone for the first innings. 

The first wicket, Mandhana, fell at 212 runs. She departed on the score of 109 off 95, whereas the latter would go on to score 122 off 134 balls. 

New Zealand only managed to pick three wickets in the rain-hit game. One over was reduced from the Indian innings, despite which they posted a mammoth total of 340 on the board.

The second innings was also reduced, to 44 overs, with a DLS revised target of 325. However, that, too, would prove too much for NZ's women's team as they only managed to reach 271, losing 8 wickets in the process.

India Face Bangladesh Next

Although India have qualified for the ICC Women's World Cup semi-finals, they still have a game to go in this stage of the tournament.

They will play against Bangladesh this Sunday, that is on October 26, 2025.

There's nothing at stake in this fixture, so the team can relax a bit, but it would still be better to keep the momentum going.