India choke at death to send England to semifinals

Deepti Sharma's all-round effort (4/51 & 57-ball 50) went in vain as India choked in the late overs of the run-chase and handed England a 4-run win in Indore on Sunday

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It was the third successive loss in a high-scoring encounter for the hosts in the ongoing World Cup. However, with this win, England have become the third team to qualify for the semifinals.

India were cruising in the run-chase till the fall of Smriti Mandhana, who departed 12 short of a century. Needing 55 runs off the last 53 balls, Indian batters struggled to find boundaries at regular intervals. And as the scoring rate went up, their desperation to muscle big shots went in vain, managing only six boundaries in the last 10 overs.

Even as India had lost Pratika Rawal early in the chase, Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur's 125-run stand had provided them with a solid platform, which was only consolidated later by Deepti, who stitched a 67-run partnership with Mandhana, who had played quite an effective but uncharacteristic innings, trading her trademark free-flowing strokeplay with more cautious nudges and glances as the English spinners kept attacking her pads.

To begin with, she was largely playing a secondary role in the company of Harleen Deol and Harmanpreet. In the powerplay, in fact, she had faced only 15 deliveries, and by the fall of her wicket in the 42nd over, she had faced only 94 balls.