England booked their place in the semi-finals of the ICC Women\u2019s Cricket World Cup 2025 with a thrilling four-run victory over India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Knight\u2019s glorious century helped England set India an imposing total of 289 for victory, with the batter posting 109 off just 91 balls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It would have been India\u2019s record run-chase in ODIs and they looked on course to reach it thanks to a brilliant 125-run partnership between Smriti Mandhana (88) and Harmanpreet Kaur (70).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But England were able to take wickets at key moments and excellent death bowling from Linsey Smith ensured India finished just short of the total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The victory means England are guaranteed a place in the top four, while India face a pivotal contest against New Zealand in Navi Mumbai with qualification still alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
England opted to bat after winning the toss and made good on that decision through a strong opening stand between Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pair put on 73 for the first wicket before Deepti Sharma bowled Beaumont for 22, as the Indian bowler claimed her 150th ODI wicket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jones powered on to bring up her half-century in 62 balls before she fell for 56, clipping a half-volley to Smriti Mandhana at mid-wicket to give Sharma her second wicket of the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That left England 98 for two and provided the platform for Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt, who combined for a 113-run partnership in Indore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A steady start saw both batters ease themselves in at the crease and deal well with the Indian spinners before they accelerated, with Knight hitting back-to-back fours off Sree Charani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Knight then swiftly brought up her half-century with another boundary, reverse-sweeping Sneh Rana through third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Knight continued to use the sweep to full effect as England brought up 200 with just over 12 overs remaining before Sciver-Brunt fell for 38 after her shot through the covers was caught by fellow captain Harmanpreet Kaur off the bowling of Charani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That failed to immediately dent England\u2019s momentum, with Knight motoring to her century in 86 balls before she was eventually run out for 109.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That proved decisive as the English batting attack wobbled in the final few overs. Sophia Dunkley (15) and Alice Capsey (2) fell in consecutive overs before Emma Lamb was caught on the boundary by Mandhana to depart for 11, as Sharma picked up her fourth wicket of the innings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That reduced England to 276-7 and Sophie Ecclestone was run out in the following over for three as England struggled to add to their total, eventually finishing on 288 for eight from their 50 overs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
England made the perfect start to the defence of their total, as Lauren Bell dismissed Rawal for six in the fourth over, as the opener nicked behind to Amy Jones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bell and Linsey Smith were both able to stymie India in the early overs, but the hosts began to find their feet and fight back, as Harleen Deol hit Bell for a pair of boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deol continued to open up, with another three boundaries, before her innings was abruptly ended by Charlie Dean, who trapped her leg before on 24 to leave India 42 for two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur steadied the ship and combined excellently to bring up India\u2019s 100 before Mandhana reached her half-century off 60 balls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harmanpreet then followed with her half-century in the next over as England\u2019s bowlers struggled to break the pairing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The duo looked set to take India deep, but Nat Sciver-Brunt ended the 125-run partnership as Harmanpreet edged to Emma Lamb at short third while looking to open up through the off side to depart for 70.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deepti Sharma picked up the mantle to continue India\u2019s chase, providing the perfect foil to Mandhana as they took India over 200 but that partnership was ended when Smith had Mandhana caught in the deep by Alice Capsey on 88 with India just over 50 from victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was Sharma\u2019s cue to take control at the crease, and she duly reached her half-century off 55 balls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sciver-Brunt then struck with the very next ball to dismiss Richa Ghosh for eight, as the wicketkeeper-batter drove straight into the hands of Heather Knight at cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sophie Ecclestone then claimed the crucial wicket of Sharma with just three overs remaining, as Sophia Dunkley held onto a catch in the deep to set up a grandstand finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India required 27 from the final three overs but miserly bowling from Smith alongside Bell at the death meant the hosts came up five runs short of their target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
England captain Sciver-Brunt hailed a \u2018special\u2019 innings from team-mate Knight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat innings special,\u201d she said. \u201cThe use of her sweeps and reverse sweeps made it so difficult for the Indians to bowl at her and she showed some brilliant intent throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am so, so happy. Everyone showed how calm they were and were really clear in what they wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Knight was similarly thrilled to be able to produce such a big contribution and felt she was able to grasp the opportunity of a batting-friendly pitch Indore with both hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just nice to get in conditions where it felt a little bit more conducive to batting,\u201d she said.
\u201cI just got myself in and felt like I wanted to put the accelerator down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was a bit frustrated with how I got out, I felt like we could have pushed it well above 300.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThree hundred caps as well, so I was desperate to put in a statement performance on a big cap occasion. I am really pleased that I did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am really pleased with a match-defining innings, that\u2019s what I wanted after not contributing too much in the last two games.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She lauded England\u2019s mindset in continuing to chip away despite periods where the Indian batters were on top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAbout 12 months ago we would have thrown the game away and not taken it as deep as we could,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve still not played out best game I don\u2019t think. You don\u2019t always want to write off a game but the fight that we showed there was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By contrast, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur was left to rue what went wrong as her side slumped to a third straight defeat at their home World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her partnership with Mandhana, plus a half-century from Deepti Sharma, left victory within touching distance but India were ultimately unable to get over the line at the death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said: \u201cSmriti\u2019s wicket was a turning point for us. We still had too many batters who can bat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how things went the other way but credit goes to England, they didn\u2019t lose hope. They kept bowling and kept getting wickets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bad feeling because when you put so much hard work in and take the game to the end, it is a very heart-breaking moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are playing good cricket but it is that last line we need to cross now. Our last three games, we showed good cricket but always ended up on the losing side. The next game is very important for us and we will cross that line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n England 288\/8 from 50 overs (Heather Knight 109, Amy Jones 56; Deepti Sharma 4\/51, Sree Charani 2\/68)<\/p>\n\n\n\n India 284\/6 from 50 overs (Smriti Mandhana 88, Harmanpreet Kaur 70; Nat Sciver-Brunt 2\/47, Linsey Smith 1\/40)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Result: England won by four runs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" England booked their place in the semi-finals of the ICC Women\u2019s Cricket World Cup 2025 with a thrilling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[69],"class_list":["post-4877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-cricket"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/heather-knight_compressed-1.jpg",1932,828,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/heather-knight_compressed-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/heather-knight_compressed-1-300x129.jpg",300,129,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/heather-knight_compressed-1-768x329.jpg",640,274,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/heather-knight_compressed-1-1024x439.jpg",640,274,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/heather-knight_compressed-1-1536x658.jpg",1536,658,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/heather-knight_compressed-1.jpg",1932,828,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/heather-knight_compressed-1-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/heather-knight_compressed-1-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Newsbeat<\/a>","tag_info":"Newsbeat","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/heather-knight_compressed-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4877"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4879,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4877\/revisions\/4879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}