India beat New Zealand by 53 runs (DLS method)
Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal notch up record 212-run partnership
According to ICC rules, India having higher number of wins than New Zealand and Sri Lanka guarantees them fourth spot
India defeated New Zealand by 53 runs (DLS method) in the penultimate league game of both the sides in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup on Thursday (October 23, 2025) to qualify for the semi-finals. India joined defending champions Australia, former winners England and South Africa in the final four, aiming to lift the trophy for the first time.
Smriti Mandhana scored a century and her opening partner Pratika Rawal hit a ton too as the duo set the platform for India's dominating win with a record-breaking 212-run partnership. India posted 340/3 in their innings, which was shortened to 49 overs due to rain. Another spell of showers reduced the game to 44 overs and New Zealand were given a 325-run target as per DLS method.
Kranti Gaud picked up a wicket off her third ball while Renuka Singh Thakur also struck twice early to push the White Ferns behind in the game, from where they could never recover. Brooke Halliday and Isabella Gaze hit half-centuries but New Zealand could only get to 271/8 in 44 overs.
After being asked to bat first, India delivered the goods with the bat for once, with centurions Mandhana and Rawal getting splendid support from Jemimah Rodrigues’ brisk 76 not out. Rodrigues, who was dropped from the last match as India favoured a sixth bowler, unleashed a flurry of fours to make the fastest fifty of this World Cup from 39 balls, eventually finishing with a 55-ball 76 with 11 fours.
Mandhana (109 off 95 balls, 10x4s, 4x6s) looked to be peaking at the right time with her third World Cup ton, first of this edition, with a spectacular six over cover off spinner Eden Carson, giving early indications of her prime form.
Rawal, too, made it count with her first World Cup hundred, which was made in a conventional manner, while forging two big partnerships -- a record one with Mandhana for the first wicket and 76 runs with Rodrigues for the second.
How India Qualified For Semi-Finals
India thus got to six points with three wins from six league games so far. Though both India and New Zealand still have a game to play and there is a scenario wherein both could end up on the same number of points, Harmanpreet Kaur and Co are guaranteed a semis berth because they have three wins as against the White Ferns' one.
As per the International Cricket Council (ICC) rules, the team with the most number of wins in the league matches will be placed in the higher position in case of equal points, and neither New Zealand nor Sri Lanka (both with four points from six matches) can end up with more wins than India.
Pakistan and Bangladesh have already been eliminated from the tournament.
