India Women Storm Into World Cup Semis

India Women powered by the stellar performances by Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy, and Rajeshwari Gayakwad beat New Zealand by a mammoth margin of 186 runs to reserve a place in Semis. India Women needed a win from their last three matches to secure a place in the semi-finals. However, they lost their first two games against South Africa and Australia, this making their last game against New Zealand a virtual quarter final.  India Women were put into bat and were looking down the barrel at 2 for 21. However, a century partnership between Harmanpreet Kaur and the world's leading run scorer Mithali Raj kept them in the game and a whirlwind knock by Veda Krishnamurthy took them to a formidable 265. Raj's 109 was her sixth ODI hundred. Kaur made a gritty 60 whereas Krishnamurthy helped post a big total with her 45 balls 70. In reply, New Zealand Women were never able to get going as the Indian opening bowlers reduced them to 3 for 27 and after that, it was a Rajeshwari Gayakwad show. Capped for the first time in this series, her bowling steamrolled whatever was left of the New Zealand batting for a paltry total of 79. Gayakwad's selection turned out to be a Midas touch as she grabbed the opportunity with a match-winning performance of 5 for 15. Mithali Raj, the captain was adjudged the player of the match for her fine century. She was all praise for the character of the current team, "I think this is a new India team. In the earlier editions, we've seen one bad day and then we've never made a comeback into the tournament. This is a very good win for the girls and it will give them a real boost and a lot of confidence." India now faces Australia in the semi-finals on the 20th July and would be looking forward to keeping their winning streak at the Derby, where they have won all their four games.