India Women's team suffered a four-wicket defeat to England on Wednesday, but despite the loss, they are still third in the league standings.
The harrowing defeat to England Women's team must be demoralising for Mithali Raj and Co, but they can still rest assured of their semifinal chances as the Indian eves are still in third place in the league standings.
Defending champions of the ICC Women's World Cup, England defeated India by four wickets at Bay Oval on Wednesday to register their first points on the board.
India had earlier won two games against Pakistan and West Indies, but they have also suffered two losses against New Zealand and England, most recently.
With four points from as many matches, Mithali Raj's forces cannot afford any more slipups as far as their journey at the ongoing World Cup is concerned.
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The million-dollar question is can India still qualify for the semifinals?
A quick glance at the Women's World Cup league table, and you'll understand where we stand. Heavyweights Australia continue to sit pretty atop the standings, with a flawless record of 8 points after 4 wins in as many games. South Africa are second on six points, with three wins in as many games, and India are third, with four points from as many games.
The Indian eves have a Net Run Rate (NRR) of +0.632 and apart from South Africa, and debutants Bangladesh, all the eight teams have played 4 games each.
Mithali Raj and Co will play three more games, and they will have to win at least two of those, to keep their qualification hopes in their own hands.
India will next take on Australia on March 19, and matches against Bangladesh (March 22), and South Africa (March 27) will wrap up their league schedule.
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If the Indian eves can avoid a heavy defeat against the Australian side to keep their net run-rate healthy, they have a real good chance to progress to the semifinals by beating South Africa and Bangladesh.
The Proteas are unbeaten in the tournament so far, so that could prove to be another tricky fixture, but at least India will have their fate in their own hands.
Going by the current scheme of things, Australia seem to have a foot in the semis. Apart from South Africa, England, West Indies and New Zealand could also be in contention for the remaining semifinals berths.
Judging by the looks of it, the qualification scenario will likely go down to the wire.
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