Indian women's cricket team's destiny in their own hands - A look at the 2022 Women's World Cup qualification scenarios
A few days ago, the Indian women’s cricket team thumped Bangladesh and took a massive step towards qualifying for the semi-finals of the tournament. The victory (by 110 runs) was the second big win they have mustered at the 2022 Women’s World Cup, following the pasting they handed out to the West Indies a fortnight ago.
Courtesy of the result, the Indian women’s cricket team are in pole position to seal a top-four berth. While that is yet to be confirmed, it is looking very unlikely that they will miss out given the current circumstances. However, as long as there is a chance for them to sneak out of the top four, it is imperative that such a discussion is held.
Additionally, the time is also ripe to delve deeper into the qualification scenarios for each team in contention and the results that they need to put together to ensure that they enter the penultimate stage of the 2022 Women’s World Cup.
Without further ado, here is a more detailed look at the numerous twists and turns this tournament can still take.
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.@YastikaBhatia notched up her second half-century in the #CWC22 & bagged the Player of the Match award as #TeamIndia beat Bangladesh. 👏 👏 #INDvBAN
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Indian women’s cricket team (Matches played – 6, Points – 6, NRR – 0.768, Fixture(s) remaining – South Africa)
As mentioned earlier, the Indian women’s cricket team are a stone’s throw away from reaching the semi-final for the second time running.
The brief for the Indian women’s cricket team is pretty simple. If they beat South Africa, they qualify without any hiccups, considering their strong Net Run Rate (NRR).
If they lose to South Africa, the Indian women’s cricket team will remain stranded on 6 points. But with the West Indies taking on South Africa, and with New Zealand and the West Indies’ NRR languishing at -0.229 and -0.885 respectively, the Indian women’s cricket team holds the edge.
The only way the Indian women’s cricket team can be dumped out of the 2022 Women’s World Cup in the league phase is for them to lose to South Africa, the West Indies defeating South Africa and England winning their remaining matches. If that happens, Australia (who have already qualified), England, South Africa and the West Indies will contest the semi-final at the expense of the Indian women’s cricket team.
In conversation with @YastikaBhatia & @SnehRana15 
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England (Matches played – 5, Points – 4, NRR – 0.327, Fixture(s) remaining – Bangladesh, Pakistan)
On the face of it, England have the least points of any team still in with a practical chance of qualifying. However, it must be noted that their remaining games are against relatively weaker oppositions – oppositions that England would expect to get the better of.
If they win both their matches, they will take their points tally to 8. That can only be rivalled by the Indian women’s cricket team, South Africa and the West Indies. But with England’s NRR already healthy and the West Indies’ NRR dwindling in the negative, the defending champions should go through if that situation arises.
Even if England lose one of their two remaining encounters, they might have a chance, provided the West Indies also lose to South Africa. In that case, both England and the West Indies might have to indulge themselves in fervent NRR calculations, although the former, considering the current landscape, would be favourites.
If England lose both their games, they won’t qualify, with the Indian women’s cricket team, South Africa and the West Indies already having six points or more. Knowing England, though, it might not come to this at all.
South Africa (Matches played – 5, Points – 8, NRR – 0.092, Fixture(s) remaining – India, West Indies)
On paper, South Africa have the toughest lot of fixtures. But they also have more points than any of the top four contenders. A solitary victory will comfortably take them through. A couple of defeats, too, might not hamper their pursuit, considering they will have to lose by huge margins to be eliminated.
Just as an example, they will have to lose by 200 runs or more (of which a 100 run or more defeat accrues against WI) for their NRR to be overhauled by the Indian women’s cricket team and the West Indies. This still remains a mathematical possibility but with the way South Africa are playing, this permutation could be rendered moot very soon.
West Indies (Matches played – 6, Points – 6, NRR - -0.885, Fixture(s) remaining – South Africa)
The West Indies have a shambolic NRR, meaning that they can harbour hopes of qualification only if they ease past South Africa. If they stay on six points, there is very minimal chance of them qualifying, considering they will have to depend on the Indian women’s cricket team losing by a gigantic margin and England losing both their games.
Defeating South Africa remains a bit of an arduous task at the 2022 Women’s World Cup. But West Indies at least know exactly what they need to do. If they manage it is another matter altogether, yet that extra bit of clarity wouldn’t do them any harm.
New Zealand (Matches played – 6, Points – 4, NRR – -0.229, Fixture(s) remaining – Pakistan
To put it plainly, New Zealand are clinging to the barest of threads. They need a ton of results to go their way, including the Indian women’s cricket team and West Indies losing to South Africa and England getting defeated by Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Even if that happens, the White Ferns will have to win their game against Pakistan by a humongous margin to stand any chance. The other and more far-fetched alternative is that both of England’s games are washed out. In that scenario, England will get to six points but will only have two wins as opposed to New Zealand’s three, meaning that the hosts will qualify by virtue of having more victories.
While that might seem possible on a calculator and in a fantasy world, it just feels that the White Ferns’ race at their home Women’s World Cup has been run.