The Women in Blue India went down for the third consecutive time in this year’s World Cup as they lost another thriller this time by chasing and falling 4 runs short of the target. It has been the same story for India, where they fight hard and then bottle an easy or gettable chase towards the end. This is happening for the umpteenth time for the Women in Blue. Credit to England for not giving up and believing in themselves under pressure, but India faltered and made some glaring errors. We will try and point out 3 reasons for their defeat.
Inability to handle pressure & finish chase haunts India again
One of the main reasons India lost was the inability to handle pressure when game is on the line. It is a mindset issue for sure. Tasked with 289 to chase on a good surface, India did lose two wickets inside the powerplay, but were brought back on track by the 125-run stand between vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and captain Harmanpreet Kaur. Kaur fell for 70 to her opposite number in the 31st over. But Deepti Sharma came in and forged a partnership of over 50 runs with Mandhana to keep India ahead.
India needed 62 off 60 balls with 7 wickets in hand and from this stage, one has got to back the batting side to win it from here. But India started to lose the plot when Smriti gave her wicket away by playing a lofted stroke and was holed out at long-off for 88 as she missed out on a century and failed to take India over the line. But this wicket opened the door for England as panic set in the Indian camp. Richa Ghosh failed and went cheaply. But then there was lack of game awareness from Deepti Sharma as she gave her wicket away after scoring a good half century.
Suddenly, from a position of strength, India made a meal of it and the duo of Amanjot Kaur and Sneh Rana could not take the side over the line. In this Indian team, a set batter has to bat through at one end and cannot give her wicket away because the lower middle order lacks ability to finish games under pressure. That is the harsh reality and once again India bottled and choked under pressure. India Women’s team are the biggest chokers in Women’s Cricket in big events in particular.
All is not lost for India, as they have New Zealand in a knockout game in Navi Mumbai on Thursday. If they can win that, they will make semis or else early exit is loading. These bottled chases are not good signs as this is not the first time it’s happening, it’s been happening for the past 2-3 years. They brought in the extra bowler did most things right but failed to cross the final hurdle which is the ultimate.
Lack of planning against Heather Knight exposes India
India were asked to bowl first on a docile track and failed to get early inroads. Once they did, they failed to get rid of England’s main batter Heather Knight. Heather Knight batted like a women determined to do well in this crucial clash. It was her 300th international game and she made the most of the occasion. It did help that she came into bat after completion of 15 overs, and it was a good pitch. But Knight was superb with bat in hand.
India lacked ideas against Heather Knight and bowled too many loose deliveries on the pads which Knight got it away to get easy runs and boundaries. Heather Knight plays the spinners really well and she brought out an absolute masterclass by sweeping and reverse sweeping the Indian spinners. They were rendered clueless against Knight as India did not know what to do against them. They lacked plans and creative ideas as to how to combat Knight. The planning lacked. Deepti was good from one end, the others were less impressive.
Going forward to the New Zealand clash, India needs to be more incisive in their bowling and have plans against the key batters and stop them in getting big runs. Yes, Knight was magnificent but the Indians helped her in settling down and score big on a flat track. She made the most of conditions and was one of the main reasons why England got to 288/8 which was a huge score in a pressure game.
Lack of wickets in the first powerplay hurt India
India were asked to bowl first after they lost the toss and it was imperative that they take early wickets in the powerplay to push England back on a flat track. But they were unable to do so. England did not get off to a flying start but they made sure they had all wickets in hand to accelerate later on. The duo of Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones played through the powerplay unscathed without any sweat. They played beyond 15 overs as well.
On a flat track, if one is unable to take wickets early on it just sets it up for the batting side to make merry later on. Amy Jones scored a crucial half-century while Beaumont scored 22. But that opening partnership laid the platform for Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt to put on more than 100 runs for the third wicket to push India further back in the contest as they accelerated with time. But lack of wickets in the powerplay even with an extra bowler is a big cause of concern for the Indians.
Looking ahead to the next game against New Zealand, India must take early wickets in the powerplay and put the White Ferns under pressure or else another big score could await the Indians. They need to be methodical and good with their planning in order to succeed against New Zealand which will now be a knockout game for sure while England have made it through to the semi-finals with this nervy win.
What Lies Ahead
We move to Navi Mumbai for today’s clash as Sri Lanka faces off against Bangladesh on 20th October 2025 at 3 PM IST. Both teams are all but out of the semi-final race with the winner still having a glimmer of hope. But the loser will definitely not make it. The weather in Mumbai should be fine. Let’s see how things go as it is tough to predict a winner between the two sides. Bangladesh have one win while Sri Lanka has 0 wins and have 2 points from 2 rained out games.
All set for a classic sub-continental rivalry match in Navi Mumbai.
Also Read: ICC Women’s ODI WC 2025: England Qualifies For Semi-Finals After Thrilling Win