England squeezed past India by four runs to seal a place in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup semi-finals on Sunday, leaving the tournament co-hosts in a crowded race for the remaining berth.
Opting to bat at Indore’s Holkar Cricket Stadium, England posted 288 for eight, anchored by a polished 109 off 91 balls from Heather Knight.
India’s reply, set 289 to win, stayed on course for much of the chase before the hosts stalled late to finish at 284, despite Smriti Mandhana’s 88 and captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s run-a-ball 70.
England’s bowlers held their nerve at the death. Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt returned 2-47, while left-arm spinner Linsey Smith delivered a tight 10-over spell of 1-40 and claimed the key wicket of Mandhana to turn the momentum.
The result marked India’s third consecutive defeat after losses to Australia and South Africa, stunning a packed home crowd.
Earlier, Knight’s century underpinned England’s innings, with the four-time champions joining Australia and South Africa in the last four after registering a fourth win in five matches. England next face Australia at the same venue on Wednesday.
India remain fourth on four points from five games and face a must-improve finish against New Zealand on Thursday and Bangladesh on Sunday to keep their semi-final hopes intact. “Smriti’s dismissal was the turning point,” Kaur said.
“We had sufficient batting to finish the game, but I don’t know how things went the other way. Credit to England — they kept bowling well and kept getting wickets.”
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