(Cricket news) India women sealed a semi final spot with a 5 run victory over Ireland (DLS method). India women won the toss and elected to bat first as Harmanpreet Kaur announced one change. Radha Yadav was unavailable for selection due to illness and was replaced by Devika Vaidya. Ireland also made one change as Georgina Dempsey came in for Jane Maguire. India’s performance wasn’t too impressive which isn’t a good sign especially considering that they will be playing the mighty Australia in the semi finals. 

Batting first India reached a total of 155/6 in 20 overs. Smriti Mandhana was the highest run scorer as she hit 87 off 56 balls. She anchored the Indian innings and hit 9 fours and 3 sixes in her knock. Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma played decent cameos to get India to a competitive total. As Smriti Mandhana said in the post match presentation that the performance wasn’t ideal as she and other batters didn’t time the ball well. In fairness the conditions were difficult as it was extremely windy and it was almost impossible to hit against the breeze. 

While defending the total India women picked up 2 wickets in the very first over. However in the 9th over when Ireland were 54/2, rain stopped play and eventually abandoned the game. According to the DLS method Ireland were 5 runs short which was a little unfortunate. The performance and the result was ideal for India women going into the semi final. They will have to play out of their skin to get a win against Australia. The match will be played at the Newlands Cricket Ground where India defeated Pakistan and West Indies.

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