After losing to Australia, it will be a do-or-die match for India as well as for New Zealand. The winner on 15th July and will get the last spot on the semi-final list. Other three spots are already booked by England, Australia and South Africa.
The first semi-final will be held on 18th July in which the teams in the first and fourth place will battle for a seat in the finals whereas second and third placed teams will play against each other in the second semi-final which will be held on 20th July.
Mithali Raj believes that her team has the ability to play a better game and has demanded improvement. She said, “You can’t just give up because you lose one game. India has always had the problem that when faced with the crunch matches, the team does not necessarily step up. If it is a very crucial game in the T20s, the World Cup, or even just that dictates a series win, we tend to fall down in that match.
“The girls are so talented, but it’s just a matter of how well they pull themselves up after a defeat. That’s what makes world champions. As a team, we have to step up. If we perform again like against Australia it will not be enough. We really have to improve all over the pitch, especially producing more consistency from how we are bowling and fielding. I think our bowlers need to more consistent in terms of their areas and bowling the good balls.”
She said that the team’s game has been good in the tournament and they have lost only against England and Australia and that they have to play well as it is a do-or-die game and one of them has to go home.
Se further added, “It’s interesting because in this tournament we’ve seen every game as a must-win and we’ve played like that. We’ve had one washout and then losses against Australia and England but we’ve played some really good cricket. We’ve played the style we wanted to play and, look, at least our destiny is in our own hands. We know that if we beat India on Saturday, then we get to stay here.”
Indian Squad
Mithali Raj (captain), Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Smrti Mandhana, Mona Meshram, Shikha Pandey, Poonam, Nuzhat Parween, Punam Raut, Deepti Sharma and Sushma Verma.
New Zealand Squad:
Suzie Bates (captain), Erin Bermingham, Sophie Devine, Maddie Green, Holly Huddleston, Leigh Kasperek, Amelia Kerr, Katey Martin, Thamsyn Newton, Katie Perkins, Anna Peterson, Rachel Priest, Hannah Rowe, Amy Satterthwaite and Lea Tahuhu.