MUMBAI: Centuries from Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal powered India to a 53-run win over New Zealand and into the Women’s World Cup semi-finals on Thursday.

Defending champions Australia, England and South Africa have already booked their berth in the semi-finals.

Openers Mandhana (109) and Rawal (122) put on 212 runs as India posted a mammoth 340-3 in 49 overs at a rain-hit DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.

Mandhana and Rawal started cautiously but soon bossed the opposition with boundaries galore.

In reply, New Zealand finished on 271-8, chasing a revised target of 325 in 44 overs to bow out of the semi-final race.

Co-hosts India bounced back from three defeats in a row to put up a clinical show in their bid to win their first World Cup title.

Mandhana and Rawal took the match away from New Zealand during their marathon stand — India’s best for any wicket in the women’s ODI World Cup.

Mandhana fell to Suzie Bates and walked off to a standing ovation from a raucous home crowd. The star batter hit 10 fours and four sixes in her 95-ball knock.

Rawal kept up the charge with Jemimah Rodrigues, who made 76 not out, to raise her maiden World Cup hundred. Amelia Kerr dismissed Rawal with her leg-spin but Rodrigues stood firm and hit regular boundaries.

New Zealand’s reply was delayed due to light drizzle and lost an early wicket when Bates departed for one off medium-pace bowler Kranti Goud in the second over.

Georgia Plimmer hit back in her 25-ball 30 but fell bowled to Renuka Singh’s medium-pace bowling.

Renuka struck again to send back Devine bowled for six as New Zealand slipped to 59-3.

A late push by Brooke Halliday, who hit 81, and Isabella Gaze, who made an unbeaten 65, infused some life into the chase in their sixth-wicket stand of 72 but the asking rate always kept India in control.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA:

P. Rawal c (sub) b A. Kerr 122

S. Mandhana c (sub) b Bates 109

J. Rodrigues not out 76

H. Kaur c Carson b Mair 10

R. Ghosh not out 4

EXTRAS (LB-11, NB-2, W-6) 19

TOTAL (for three wkts, 49 overs DLS) 340

DID NOT BAT: H. Deol, D. Sharma, S. Rana, S. Charani, K. Gaud, R. Singh

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-212 (Mandhana), 2-288 (Rawal), 3-336 (H. Kaur)

BOWLING: Mair 8-1-52-1, J. Kerr 8-1-51-0 (1w, 2nb), Devine 6-0-34-0 (1w), Carson 6-0-46-0, Tahuhu 4-0-37-0 (4w), A. Kerr 10-0-69-1, S. Bates 7-0-40-1

NEW ZEALAND:

S. Bates c Rawal b Gaud 1

G. Plimmer b Singh 30

A. Kerr c Mandhana b Rana 45

S. Devine b Renuka Singh 6

B. Halliday c Rana b Charani 81

M. Green c Gaud b Rawal 18

I. Gaze not out 65

J. Kerr c Mandhana b Gaud 18

R. Mair c Mandhana b Sharma 1

EXTRAS (LB-4, W-2) 6

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 44 overs DLS) 271

DID NOT BAT: L. Tahuhu, E. Carson

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-1 (Bates), 2-51 (Plimmer), 3-59 (Devine), 4-115 (A. Kerr), 5-154 (Green), 6-226 (Halliday), 7-266 (J. Kerr), 8-271 (Mair)

BOWLING: Singh 6-0-25-2 (1w), Gaud 9-0-48-2, Rana 8-0-60-1, Charani 9-0-58-1, Sharma 8-0-57-1, Rawal 4-0-19-1

RESULT: India won by 53 runs (DLS method)

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Smriti Mandhana

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2025