- India will play New Zealand in a virtual quarterfinal as it were on Thursday, a vital Women's World Cup fixture
- The winning team will earn the final ticket to the semifinals of the tournament
India will aim to move their tournament back onto a positive course on Thursday, which would culminate in them progressing into the semifinals as the fourth country when they play New Zealand, which is effectively a virtual quarterfinal at the Women's World Cup.
If they got beaten by New Zealand, Indian qualification possibilities would rest on New Zealand beating the English team, as well as India beating Bangladesh in their final group match.
In the same way, if the Black Ferns want to remain alive in the race, they will need to win their remaining two matches. Weather is a factor for this game too, since rain or thunderstorms are possible with the evening storms.
In case of a washout, India would stand to gain because they have more victories and a better net run rate.
The team comes into this game having been defeated for the third time consecutively by the existing semifinalists—Australia, South Africa, and England—each of which has exposed India's inability to perform under pressure.
In terms of big scores against Australia and South Africa, the most disappointing loss to England in Indore was when India failed to chase 56 runs off 54 balls losing seven wickets in the process.
The team has still not dealt with questions of pressure and composure in key moments, beyond playing combinations.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Coach Amol Muzumdar are now hoping to get the team's inconsistency with batting and bowling sorted out.
India has been unable to finish matches with the bat and the bowlers have been inconsistent, resulting in a heavy reliance on Richa Ghosh to strike hard at the end of the innings.
With the tournament entering a decisive phase, the experienced Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana will need to step up of the team.
In terms of correcting the bowling attack, India has replaced Hemimah Rodrigues with swing bowler Renuka Thakur and Harleen Deol will need to convert her starts into bigger scores at No. 3.
India's practice was cut short due to rain early in the week; the only full practice session was just before the match. In terms of the match and usually the DY Patil surface serves batters well as there is dew in the second
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