10th over: New Zealand 55-2 (M Kerr 18, Devine 4) Sophie Devine clatters her second ball through the covers for four. Might as well!
WICKET! New Zealand 51-2 (Plimmer b Thakur 30)
A change of ends does the trick for Renuka Singh Thakur. Plimmer, who was looking dangerous, drags an inducker back onto the stumps to end a promising innings of 30 from 25 balls. Wickets are invaluable for India because they increase New Zealand’s DLS target should the game be rained off.
9th over: New Zealand 50-1 (Plimmer 30, M Kerr 17) Time for the offspin of Sneh Rana. Lovely batting from Georgia Plimmer, who skips down to swipe the second ball over wide long-on for six, then clips four behind square to the end the over. After scoring 6 from her first 13 balls, Plimmer has hit 24 from the last 10.
8th over: New Zealand 36-1 (Plimmer 19, M Kerr 14) Plimmer pulls Gaud emphatically for four to continue New Zealand’s mini-mini-mini-revival. There’s a chance of rain later on, it says here, so there’s a chance of a washout. If New Zealand bat for 20 overs we will have a positive result.
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7th over: New Zealand 30-1 (Plimmer 14, M Kerr 13) Ghosh is going to continue, though she looks in a bit of pain. A misfield for Harmanpreet gives Kerr her first boundary, the third of the over.
6.3 overs: New Zealand 23-1 (Plimmer 14, M Kerr 8) Plimmer gets New Zealand moving with successive boundaries off Thakur. Richa Ghosh hurts her finger trying to stop a leg-side wide, leading to a break in play while she has it strapped.
6th over: New Zealand 14-1 (Plimmer 6, M Kerr 7) Kranti Gaud, who took one of the great return catches last week to dismiss South Africa’s Tazmin Brits, drops Georgia Plimmer off her own bowling. It was a tough chance, blasted back at her, and she couldn’t hang on as she reached to her right. I don’t think she’s just dropped the World Cup, mate.
5th over: New Zealand 11-1 (Plimmer 4, M Kerr 6) New Zealand just can’t get going. Thakur’s third over costs a single, just like the first two, and the required rate screeches above eight an over.
4th over: New Zealand 10-1 (Plimmer 4, M Kerr 5) Plimmer gets off the mark by cuffing her seventh ball whence it came for four. It was in the air but just wide of the bowler Gaud. But there are only five runs from the over in total; the required rate has risen to almost eight.
3rd over: New Zealand 5-1 (Plimmer 0, M Kerr 4) And again Thakur concedes only a single run. You never know in white-ball cricket, especially under lights, but this already feels like a done deal.
2nd over: New Zealand 4-1 (Plimmer 0, M Kerr 3) Melie Kerr is the new batter. Her partner, Georgia Plimmer, comes very close to dragging Gaur back onto the stumps.
WICKET! New Zealand 1-1 (Bates c Pratika b Gaud 1)
New Zealand’s task just got a whole lot tougher. Suzie Bates walks down the track to Kranti Gaud and top-edges a pull towards point, where Pratika Rawal takes a comfortable catch.
1st over: New Zealand 1-0 (Bates 1, Plimmer 0) An excellent start from Thakur, who concedes just a single from her first over. New Zealand’s required rate is already up to 7.54 per over.
Renuka Singh Thakur will open the bowling to Suzie Bates. Let’s play!
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The players are coming onto the field. The night sky is clear and New Zealand’s target has been revised to 325 from 44 overs. WIth that, good luck.
“I lived in Bombay (can never bring myself to call it Mumbai) for 15 years and people elsewhere do not understand the rains in Bombay,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “Once it starts, it’s like someone forgot to close the tap. A no result is more likely leaving India a must-win in the final match against Bangladesh.”
It’s raining again. It’s not too heavy, though, and the players are practicing on the outfield.
Pratika Rawal’s 122 made her the joint-fastest woman to reach 1000 runs in ODIs, equalling the record set by the great Lindsay Reeler. She died last year, aged just 63. If you don’t know her story, please read this interview with the ABC’s Duncan Huntsdale in 2022.
New Zealand need 341 to win
49th over: India 340-3 (Jemimah 76, Ghosh 4) Richa Ghosh edges her first and final ball for four.
This is India’s highest score at a World Cup, beating the 330 they made against Australia earlier in the tournament. That wasn’t enough; this, surely, will be.
WICKET! India 336-3 (Harmanpreet c Carson b Mair 10)
After Jemimah Rodrigues is dropped for four at long-off by Maddy Green, a tough but takeable chance, Harmanpreet Kaur is well caught at backward point by Eden Carson.
One ball remaining.
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Here come the players. A reminder that it’s now a 49-over game, so India have precisely six balls remaining in their innings. Rosemary Mair will bowl them.
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Thanks Tanya, hello everyone. That’s how to respond to adversity, eh: India, facing potential humiliation at their own World Cup, have batted magnificently to reach 329 for 2 from 48 overs. The game isn’t done, but it’ll need an innings for the ages for New Zealand to win.
Time for me to handover to Rob Smyth, who will guide you through the one remaining over of India’s innings and then New Zealand’s chase. Bye!
Restart now due at 3.20pm BST
Rain permitting. The covers are being unpeeled.
The rain has returned
You’ve got time to make some sandwiches.
Game reduced to 49 overs a side - restart at 2.50pm BST
So 15 minutes more of mopping up, an over, a ten minute break, then New Zealand’s innings.
The rain has stopped
And the umpires are chatting to the captains. Seems we will get a resumption of sorts at some point soon.
Reports from the ground tend towards deluge rather than shower. Should this game be washed out, the fourth semi-final place will go down to the wire – with India having to play Bangladesh here in Mumbai and New Zealand playing England in Visakhapatnam. Both on Sunday.
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The rain seems to be coming down pretty hard in Mumbai, I think we’ll be off for a while. Time for me grab a quick coffee.
Rain stops play - India 329-2 off 48 overs
48th over: India 329-2 (Jemimah 69, Kaur 10) Suzie Bates with the wiles and wisdom that a long career brings. Just six from it, and at the end of the over, the umpires usher the players off and the crowdstaff get to work with their huge dark blue covers.
47th over: India 322-2 (Jemimah 66, Kaur 8) A good over from Mair – and possibly a missed chance by the keeper off the first as Rodrigues tries a ramp – until Kaur leans into one too wide and sends it clattering for four. And it is starting to rain…
46th over: India 315-2 (Jemimah 64, Kaur 2) Jemimah gets some treatment at the start of the over – maybe for cramp? The physios look concerned but she’s fed a banana and water and is ready to go. Carson gets the treatment. Four: reversed with gumption. Four: flayed with extravagant bat twirl and elongated stretch. Four more: cut behind square.
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Fifty for Rodrigues!
45th over: India 302-2 (Jemimah 51, Kaur 2) M Kerr gives the ball air – Jemimah can’t make the most of the first one, but leans into the second, sending it smooching through cover for four to bring up fifty. She raises her bat high in the air like a periscope to the strains of Despacito. A promotion up the order with wheels.
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44th over: India 292-2 (Jemimah 45, Kaur 1) Two new batters now, can New Zealand tighten the stable doors? Five runs picked from the over. Six left – can India get close to 350?
WICKET! Pratika c Rowe (sub) b M Kerr 122 (India 288-2)
43rd over: India 288-2 (Jemimah 41, Kaur 0) Time for one last glorious six from Pratika, down the ground, bisecting the Mumbai air, before she falls to a wonderful catch by the diving Rowe, making amends at long off, going for one more.
42nd over: India 279-1 (Pratika 115, Jemimah 39) Bates again, as evening falls in Mumbai. She directs the field with pointed finger and firm hand. But all the reployment doesn’t help – Jemimah slams one past extra cover, and another pancaked past long on.
41st over: India 266-1 (Pratika 114, Jemimah 27) Twelve from Jess Kerr’s over – four singles – impressive stamina by Pratika – and two successive free-flowing fours from Rodrigues.
40th over: India 254-1 (Pratika 112, Jemimah 17) An over of near misses for bowler Susie Bates. First Pratika picks out Green at long off, who gets into position but drops the ball before slipping onto her backside. Then New Zealand review an lbw against Rodrigues, but ball has brushed glove.
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A hundred for Pratika Rawal!
39th over: India 247-1 (Pratika 107, Jemimah 15) With a single sliding behing point, there’s the second hundred of the innings, a coolly crafted one by Pratika. A standing ovation from the spectators, a hug from Jemimah. Later in the over she celebrates by lofting Mair with sizzling wrists over wide long on for six more.
38th over: India 238-1 (Pratika 99, Jemimah 14) Just three singles off the wiley Bates.
37th over: India 235-1 (Pratika 97, Jemimah 13) Three singles off Kerr’s first five balls, then a paddle-sweep from Rodrigues brings the boundary. The physio comes on field to examine Pratika’s wrist.
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36th over: India 228-1 (Pratika 95, Jemimah 8) Sophie Devine with her sixth over. Two fours from it – Pratika weaves one through extra cover, Jemimah too, appassionato.
35th over: India 218-1 (Pratika 90, Jemimah 3) Jemimah is pushed up the order to make merry from that outstanding base. Five easy runs from Melie Kerr’s over.
34th over: India 213-1 (Pratika 87, Jemimah 1) Well done Susie Bates – still got it even in her first spell of the World Cup. The highest stand of the tournament comes to an end – glorious stuff from Smriti.
WICKET! Smriti c Rowe (sub) b Bates 109 (India 212-1)
At last! A slog sweep flies high towards the lights, comes down to earth just in front of the rope where Rowe fluffs her first attempt but catches the rebound with her wrists and to huge relief. The end of a wonderful innings.
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33rd over: India 211-0 (Pratika 86, Smriti 109) Pratika helps a limping ball from Kerr down to the rope before Smriti tonks a full toss, a waist high full toss for six. The free hit just brings a single.
32nd over: India 195-0 (Pratika 79, Smriti 101) A long break for drinks again. Just three single from Bates’ over. Every single New Zealand can make India run, will exhaust them more.
100 for Smriti Mandhana!
31st over: India 192-0 (Pratika 77, Smriti 100) And with a single comes India’s first hundred of the tournament, a fabulous display of hitting from Smriti – her 14th ODI century. She lifts both helmet and bat and smiles that glorious smile. In the dugout a keyboard of blue stands to applaud.
30th over: India 188-0 (Pratika 75, Smriti 98) Devine calls up her trusty war horse Suzie Bates to have a go. Now even the immaculate fielding is starting to wilt as Smriti slots four between two immobile bodies.
29th over: India 181-0 (Pratika 75, Smriti 91) Smriti grabs a handful of salt and scrubs it into the raw wound. A one-kneed six cracked up and into the night, the next, also on one knee, swept down to the rope. Kerr ia unimpressed.
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28th over: India 170-0 (Pratika 75, Smriti 80) Tahuhu continues to feel the heat as Pratika flays her past point and a sprawling fielder for one four, past midwicket for another.
27th over: India 161-0 (Pratika 66, Smriti 79) New Zealand break through! – no, they don’t. Smriti looks stone-dead lbw to Milie Kerr but but choses to review Sue’s raised finger, because why not, and DRS finds a slither of an inside edge. The news surprises Smriti, already walking off, as much as it does Kerr, who shrugs her shoulders in disbelief.
26th over: India 155-0 (Pratika 64, Smriti 76) Smriti crouches down by her stumps – the humidity is starting to tell here – the boundary fielders constantly sipping from drinks. Tahuhu returns and starts her second spell with a wide. Then Pratika parries one angled into her pads with a wristy steer for four.
25th over: India 147-0 (Pratika 58, Smriti 75) At half way, New Zealand are yet to take a wicket and India are steaming across the ocean and far away. Pratika with the dancing feet this time, four lofted over mid on. More quick drinks.
24thover: India 140-0 (Pratika 52, Smriti 74) Another Smriti four, as she leans back and caresses the ball away. Devine tries to stem the flow with a short ball but it drifts leg side for a wide.
Ffity for Pratika
23rd over: India 132-0 (Pratika 50, Smriti 69) Smriti opens her eyes wide and, twinkling of toe, pulls Mair across the grass and over the rope. A nipped single brings Pratika her second fifty of the World Cup and the over finishes with four more for Smriti, a wayward delivery nudged past the keeper.
22nd over: India 121-0 (Pratika 48, Smriti 60) Pratika contemplates a scoop, but changes her mind at the last second, grounded to the crease. Just three singles from Devine’s over.
21st over: India 118-0 (Pratika 46, Smriti 59) Mair returns to try and break this dangerous partnership. No cigar, but no boundaries either. The ground is alive with the Mexican wave. And a stat for you: Smriti and Pratika have the most runs by an opening pair in ODIs since 2024.
20th over: India 113-0 (Pratika 43, Smriti 58) A run rate of four from the first ten overs became 7.5 from overs ten to 20. Eight off Carson’s fourth over, including a four from Smriti, inelegant by her standards, but does the job.
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19th over: India 107-0 (Pratika 42, Smriti 52) Jess Kerr starts her over with a no ball but the free hit brings naught as Pratika finds the cover fielder. A sharp bit of fielding by Halliday in the ring cuts off a boundary. Five singles
Fifty for Smriti Mandhana!
18th over: India 102-0 (Pratika 40, Smriti 50) Smriti brings up the century partnership by lofting Carson for four – eggs over easy, one bounce before clearing long on boundary. A couple more brings fifty, making her the second highest run-scorer this World Cup behind Healy.
17th over: India 94-0 (Pratika 38, Smriti 44) Ice towels and sun umbrellas bring temporary relief. Jess Kerr resumes, Smriti threads four between third and backward point like the expert seamstress she is.
16th over: India 86-0 (Pratika 36, Smriti 38) Kerr tosses the first ball of the over up and SMriti strolls down the pitch and pings her for six over deep mid wicket. Four more from a Pratika square drive that whistles exquisitely over the rope ahead of the despairing sweeper. DRINKS, and India have wrestled control.
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15th over: India 74-0 (Pratika 31, Smriti 31) Devine cuts her losses and replaces the expensive Tahuhu with Jess Kerr, whose first two overs went for three. The ploy works immediately, with just three singles run.
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14th over: India 71-0 (Pratika 28, Smriti 27) Steady from Kerr, but India milk five singles from it.
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13th over: India 67-0 (Pratika 28, Smriti 27) Pratika has decided Tahuhu must go. After the second ball flies off the pad and down to the rope, she pulls out a short-arm jab over wide long on, then a glorious front-foot lofted drive with pose held for all of Mumbai to appreciate, for four more.
12th over: India 53-0 (Pratika 20, Smriti 25) ICC woman’s cricketer of the year 20204 Melie Kerr is whistled into the action. A single and two leg byes from her first over.
11th over: India 50-0 (Pratika 20, Smriti 24) Another bowling change, Tahuhu starts with a wide and follows up with a wide three balls later. And another slips past Smriti’s off stump. Tahuhu curls her lip as she walks back. A delivery drifts widish of Pratika’s off stump , who promptly tucks cuts her for four. New Zealand’s change bowlers have not managed to capitalise on the miserliness of the opening pair.
10th over: India 40-0 (Pratika 15, Smriti 22) Pratika flays four like a chef presented with some rotten vegetables, pulling Devine over midwicket. But four dots complete the over and at the end of the power play, India’s run-rate is a grudingly respectable four an over.
9th over: India 35-0 (Pratika 11, Smriti 21) Ignore me, as Smriti shimmies down the pitch with twinkling boots and lofts Carson over long off and for six. Gorgeous shot which pleases as on-edge crowd.
8th over: India 28-0 (Pratika 11, Smriti 14) Smriti starts the over by slashing a juicy pie from Devine past backward point for four. Just one more run though, so India hardly steaming along .
7th over: India 23-0 (Pratika 11, Smriti 9) The first over of spin, with the fresh-faced Eden Carson, black towel tucked into her waistband. Smriti sweeps the first-ball loosener down to the rope. But the ring successfully prevent any more boundaries.
6th over: India 18-0 (Pratika 11, Smriti 4) Devine brings herself into the attack and Smriti rushes her first ball, sending the ball flying just past a airborne point. Dab-dab, we return to the singles game.
5th over: India 15-0 (Pratika 10, Smriti 2) A boundary at last, as Mair sends down a half volley and Pratika flicks her away off her ankles and down to the rope. And another! A greedy step forward and angled over cover. The engine is running.
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4th over: India 6-0 (Pratika 2, Smriti 1) Lots of empty seats at the moment, but on TMS Steve Finn says that spectators are gathering in the shaded areas to shelter from the sun – it’s 3.15 in the afternoon in Mumbai. A couple of singles off Kerr’s second over, and then an out of character wide. India cannot pierce New Zealand’s fielders waiting in a tight ring.
3rd over: India 3-0 (Pratika 1, Smriti 0) The crowd are chomping for boundaries, but New Zealand’s bowlers are not complying. More stinginess from Mair, nibbling the ball both way and giving India nothing. Jut a single.
2nd over: India 2-0 (Pratika 0, Smriti 0) Jess Kerr at the other end, neat lengths, Smriti, watchful, taps the ball back. An excellent maiden.
Play!
1st over: India 2-0 (Pratika 0, Smriti 0) Rosemary Mair, hair scraped back, earrings dancing, starts with an outswinger that Pratika lets go safely by. And so it continues for much of the over, with two leg byes from the last ball.
India have limped to this stage, on the back of three losses. But here they are, and they must turn things around today. After the anthems, New Zealand huddle for a giant high five, Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal trot to the middle.
Hot, hot, hot
It’s 35 degrees at the DY Patil stadium, and a humidity level in the 50s means that sweat won’t evaporate very effectively. It’s going to be tough out there.
I think Sophie Devine summed up the situation pretty well pre-match:
“I can’t imagine the a type pf pressure that India feel, a billion people tuned into the TV screens. I’ve got real empathy for them, for us it’s a really exciting challenge, playing India, in India, in a World Cup, these are the moments that you want to be playing cricket.”
India bring in Rodrigues
India XI: Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Renuka Singh, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani.
Mumbai’s Rodrigues replaces Amanjot Kaur, but still no extra bowler.
New Zealand unchanged
New Zealand XI: Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine (capt), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze (wk), Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Eden Carson, Lea Tahuhu.
Harmanpreet looks calm in the storm. “The pitch is looking good and we have a good opportunity with the extra batter to set a big total.We want to enjoy the moment and play good cricket.”
New Zealand win the toss and bowl
Sophie Devine: “We don’t think the surface will change much and we just want a first crack with the ball. We haven’t played as much as we’d like but…we walk towards the pressure, playing India in India in a World Cup, it doesn’t get much bigger than that.”
Preamble
Crunch. Match number 24 is the big one. India can qualify for their own tournament’s knock out stages if they win today. Rain-haunted New Zealand must win for a chance to make it to the semi-finals. Join us in Navi Mumbai – it should be a thriller, play starts at 10.30amBST.
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