India women’s cricket team created history after reaching the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 due to the washout semi-final on Thursday (5th March) at Sydney Cricket Ground (Sydney). The upcoming final will be India’s first final of this tournament’s history.
There was a high tension when the International Cricket Council (ICC) refused to allow the reserve-day for the semi-final matches while both the semis have been scheduled on the same day and also at the same venue.
Ultimately, the fear became true at least for the England women, who had been forced out from the tournament without playing the semi-final of this tournament.
The first semi-final was scheduled to begin at 14:00 local time. But due to the continuous rain, it wasn’t possible to begin the game on time. While the cut-off time for the toss was 16:36 local time (cut-off time for match begin at 16:51 local time). However, the match officials declared the match abandoned around 16:10 local time.
India women advanced to the semi-final of this tournament after finishing on the top of the Group A points table (8 points) by winning all the four matches of that group stage.
Meanwhile, England women were on the second spot of the final Group B points table (6 points) as they won three out of four matches and lost only against South Africa Women.
Final points table of Group A
| Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied/No Result | Points | Net Run-Rate |
| India | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0/0 | 8 | +0.979 |
| Australia | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0/0 | 6 | +0.971 |
| New Zealand | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0/0 | 4 | +0.364 |
| Sri Lanka | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0/0 | 2 | –0.404 |
| Bangladesh | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0/0 | 0 | –1.908 |
Final points table of Group B
| Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied/No Result | Points | Net Run-Rate |
| South Africa | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0/1 | 7 | +2.226 |
| England | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0/0 | 6 | +2.291 |
| West Indies | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0/1 | 3 | –0.654 |
| Pakistan | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0/1 | 3 | –0.761 |
| Thailand | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0/1 | 1 | –3.992 |
As India Women had higher points than England women, India women qualified for the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020.
Captains’ reactions of England Women and India Women
England Women’s captain Heather Knight was feeling frustrated after the rain washout semi-final.
She said, “Frustrating, didn’t want the World Cup to end this way but not much you can do about this. Would have been good to have a reserve day perhaps. That loss to South Africa cost us. Not really, we expected to reach the semi-finals and that we did. Undone by the weather. Did feel like we had started to gain momentum in recent games and we were really ready for this semifinal. Yes, Sarah Glenn and Sophie (Ecclestone) have been great. So has been Mady. Not starting a tournament great has been a concern, so perhaps we can work on that (smiles).”
Meanwhile, the Indian Women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur is expecting the reserve day at least for the knockout stages in future ICC tournaments.
It will be the first time when India Women will play the final in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Kaur said, “It is unfortunate not to get a game due to the weather. But that’s how the rules go. In future, it would be nice to have a reserve day. From day one, we knew that we have to win all the games because if in case we don’t get any play in the semifinals, it will be hard for us. Credit to the team, we wanted to win all the games and we did it. Everybody is looking in great touch.”
On this Sunday (8th February), India Women will play the final of this tournament against the winners of the second semi-final at Melbourne Cricket Ground (Melbourne).
Group B champions South Africa Women and Group A runners-up Australia Women will now face in the second semi-final of this tournament.
This match has been scheduled to begin at 19:00 local time on Thursday. However, this game is also likely to be affected due to rain.