New Zealand Women have won just one out of five matches so far, and have two more remaining in the league stage.
Four out of nine matches at Colombo have ended without a result in the ongoing Women’s World Cup 2025, including the recent fixture between Pakistan and New Zealand. Captain Sophie Devine was left disheartened as the White Ferns could’ve come closer to qualification for the Semis with two points. She later called out the ICC for poor scheduling of the mega tournament.
The match was first cut short to 36 overs. New Zealand Women got off to a good start after winning the toss and reducing Pakistan to 30/2. A couple more wickets fell. Aliya Riaz was looking to set with 28 off 52. But after 25 overs in the first innings, bad weather forced play to stop at the R Premadasa Stadium.
Speaking after the abandoned match, Devine said, “Hopefully, in future editions, they might consider starting games earlier in the day. We’ve obviously seen here that the rain usually comes in the afternoon, so there’s a real opportunity to play these matches at 10 or 11 AM and actually get a game in. You’ve waited so long to be here, you want to test yourself against the best, and to be scuppered by rain is a real shame for me.”
It also marked NZ’s second consecutive abandoned match, the previous one coming against Sri Lanka at the same ground.
ALSO READ:
After Pakistan and New Zealand shared one point each, it pushed South Africa to join Australia for a confirmed spot in the top four. Both England and India are still in the hunt and set to go head-to-head tomorrow (October 19) in Indore.
However, between India and New Zealand, the hosts stand a better chance with three games remaining. To understand this better, let’s take a look at the remaining fixtures of the three teams.
After seven points from four games, England will face India, Australia, and New Zealand. India, on the other hand, have one point lesser. They are yet to play against England, New Zealand, and Bangladesh. The Kiwis follow on the fifth spot with four points from five matches. After India’s clash, they will play against England.
England are yet to lose in this tournament, and will look to capitalise in at least two out of their remaining three games. India come on the back of consecutive losses, but two more wins will gurantee their spot in the Semis. New Zealand Women, however, endured losses against the top two, before their solitary win against Bangladesh.
Though India and New Zealand have same points, the latter have already played their fifth match. If India go on to win two out of the remaining three, they will be in contention. But the same can’t be said for New Zealand who will also be facing the same opponent, England. Furthermore, the NRR will come into play. There’s a stark difference of NRRs between India’s 0.682 and NZ’s -0.245.
However, the Champions from 2000 are not one to give up.
Devine added, “The situation is extremely clear, we just need to win both games, starting with India in Mumbai. We’ve had some good experiences against them recently, including in the World Cup last year, and we’ll draw on those. This is what you want, to play against the best teams in their own backyard and put yourself under pressure. We’re really looking forward to that challenge.”
None of their future games are in Colombo.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
