The final of the ninth edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is just a week away. But before the final, all eyes will be on the four semi-finalists, who finish in the top two in their respective groups.
Group A which includes the defending champions Australia, New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, has been popularly referred to as group of death in this World Cup. True to its monicker, this group has witnessed fiery competition, especially among Australia, New Zealand, and India. So, after some hard-fought battles, which two teams among these said three teams have a stronger chance of making it to the next stage? Let’s find out.
To begin with, Australia is sitting pretty on the top of the points table with six points in three matches and a healthy net run rate (NRR) of 2.786. They play their final match of the league stage against India on October 13. If Australia wins that match, they straightaway qualify for the semi-finals without worrying about the results of India and New Zealand. If Australia lose, they would not want to by such a margin that their NRR slips below that of India and New Zealand.
The race for the semis is heating up!
A clinical performance by New Zealand to bag the all important 2 points.#CricketTwitter #T20WorldCup2024 pic.twitter.com/RFRnzANq5A
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) October 12, 2024
Next, for New Zealand, who are placed at number three in the points table with four points and an NRR of 0.282, winning the last league match against Pakistan is paramount. They not just need a win but a big one so that they go past India’s NRR. Even if they win, they would like India to lose their next match against Australia or win by just a minuscule difference. If New Zealand lose, they would want to have the margin as low as possible, again to take care of that NRR factor.
Finally, for India, it is a must-win match, when they take on the Aussies. A win would most likely guarantee them a semi-final spot. At present, India is ranked second in the points table with four points and an NRR of 0.576, which is considerably better than that of New Zealand. However, if India lose, they would hope for New Zealand to suffer defeat against Pakistan, for them to qualify for the semi-finals.
Besides these three teams, other team that has a mathematical chance of qualifying for the semi-finals is Pakistan. Though they are ranked fourth in the points table with two points and an NRR of -0.488, a big win over New Zealand could brighten their chances. But this is not all. They would also want India to go down against Australia by a big margin. Similarly, just mathematically again, Australia has an outside chance of being knocked out of the league stage. This can happen if India and New Zealand register huge wins in their respective matches against Australia and Pakistan.
So, all in all, the group of death is well and truly wide open. Any two of the teams in Group A, except Sri Lanka, which has been eliminated, can make it to the semi-finals. Could we have asked for a better T20 World Cup than this?
I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.