The ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 kicked off on March 4 in New Zealand. The tournament started after a delay of 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the teams made sure when it happened, the excitement and the surprise elements of the marquee event remained intact. (More Cricket News)
After Monday, just eight more round-robin league matches are remaining in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022. While Australia have already qualified for the semi-finals, all the remaining seven teams have a mathematical chance to enter the next stage, the semifinals.
Australia (10 Points From 5 Games)
The Australian juggernaut seems hard to stop at the ongoing ICC Women’s World Cup. With 5 wins from as many games, Australia are one of the two unbeaten teams in the tournament. The table-toppers have already qualified for the semi-finals.
Their remaining matches are against South Africa (March 22) and Bangladesh (March 25).
South Africa (8 Points From 4 Games)
Another team apart from Australia that is unbeaten at the marquee event this year is South Africa. New Zealand, England and Pakistan came close to beating the side but none succeeded. With four wins in as many games, South Africa sit at the second spot. They just need one more win from remaining three games to confirm themselves a semi-final berth. However, if they lose all of them, they might get out of the competition.
Their remaining matches are against Australia (March 22), West Indies (March 24) and India (March 27). All tough games!
West Indies (6 Points From 6 Games)
West Indies women will not qualify for the semi-finals if India and England win their remaining matches with a better margin. This is because if the three teams – India, England and Windies win all their remaining games, they will have 8 points each to their credit but the Caribbean side’s poor NRR will shatter their dreams of advancing to the final 4.
Given their last opponent is South Africa (March 24), West Indies’ chances to qualify for semi-final seem bleak. If they lose to South Africa, Windies can still qualify for the semi-finals but they will need India or England to lose at least one of their games, that too by a big margin. In that case, a comparatively better NRR can take West Indies, which will be tied at 6 points with them, to the next stage.
India (4 Points From 5 Games)
The simplest route for India to qualify is by winning both their remaining games against Bangladesh (March 22) and South Africa (March 27). Defeats in both of the games will knock them out of the semi-final race, but what if they lose one of the matches and win another?
In that case, India will pray Windies lose their only remaining match against South Africa. Meanwhile, New Zealand need to lose their final game against Pakistan to stay out of contention or win the game by a small margin. If the White Ferns win by a big margin, India will need England to lose one of their games with a big margin and then qualify on the basis of a better NRR after being tied at 6 points with the team.
England (4 Points From 5 Games)
If defending champions England manage to win both their remaining games against Pakistan (March 24) and Bangladesh (March 27) keeping their NRR better than that of West Indies, they will enter the semi-final of Women's World Cup. If West Indies lose their final game, it will make things easier for England.
However, in case England lose one of their games, they can have a maximum of 6 points. The side can still enter the semi-final but have to heavily rely on the results of matches of India and West Indies.
New Zealand (4 Points From 6 Games)
The White Ferns not only need to win their only remaining game against Pakistan by a big margin on March 26 but also need a lot of permutations and combinations to work in their favour. The first thing they would need is a West Indies loss that will simply remove the Caribbean women from their competition, courtesy poorer NRR.
New Zealand will then need England or India to lose one of their remaining games and have an NRR that must be better that the team that loses.
Bangladesh (2 Points From 4 Matches)
They can qualify in two situations, either on 8 points or on 6 points.
8-Point Case – Bangladesh’s remaining matches are against India (March 22), Australia (March 25) and England (March 27). If they win all their remaining games, they will have 8 points in their kitty. Both India and England won’t come in their way as they will have a maximum of 6 points in this case.
6-Point Case – Bangladesh have to beat India and England by big margins to overtake their NRRs even if all three are tied on 6 points. Further they would need England to beat Pakistan, and Pakistan to beat New Zealand. In that case, Pakistan and New Zealand can have a maximum of 4 points each.
Pakistan (2 Points From 5 Matches)
The Asian team first needs to win its remaining two games by a big margin. In that case, Pakistan will have 6 points in their kitty with a good NRR. Pakistan’s remaining matches are against England (March 24) and New Zealand (March 26).
Victory in these games means Pakistan will take the two teams out of the competition on a better NRR, even if England win their last league game that is against Bangladesh. Notably, the margin of England’s victory shouldn’t be big enough to overtake Pakistan’s NRR.
In case everything goes accordingly, Pakistan would just need West Indies to lose their remaining game. If Windies win, the Bismah Maroof-led side would need India to lose one of their remaining games by a big margin so that Pakistan overtakes their NRR after being tied on 6 points. Meanwhile, Bangladesh should not have 8 points and must have a comparatively poor NRR.
