Delhi, 20 October (H.S.): India's hopes for a semi-final berth in the Women's ODI World Cup 2025 are still intact, despite suffering a narrow four-run loss to England in a tense match at Indore's Holkar Stadium on Sunday. This was Team India's third consecutive defeat, following earlier losses to South Africa and Australia, after a promising start to the tournament with victories over Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

With England's win, they have become the third team to secure a place in the semi-finals. The battle for the final remaining slot is now primarily between India and New Zealand.

Currently positioned fourth in the points table, India holds a crucial advantage with a better net run rate than New Zealand. To guarantee their progression, the team led by Harmanpreet Kaur must win their two remaining group stage matches.India's next fixture is a critical clash against New Zealand, which is poised to be a decisive factor in the semi-final race.

Their final group match is against Bangladesh, a team that is virtually out of the tournament.However, should India lose to New Zealand, their path to the semi-finals would become significantly more complex.

In that scenario, Team India would not only need to defeat Bangladesh by a substantial margin but also depend on England overcoming New Zealand in their final match.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar