Smriti Mandhana's blistering innings of 87 runs secured a semifinal berth for India

On Monday, the Women in Blue defeated Ireland Women by 5 runs as per the DLS method and qualifies for the semi-final of the ongoing Women's T20 WC 2023. Team India is all set to face the unbeaten Australia side in T20 WC 2023 on Thursday in the first semifinal game. 

In the match, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and decided to bat first. Batting first, India scored 155 runs for the loss of 6 wickets courtesy of India's left-handed opening batter Smriti Mandhana's blistering innings of 87 runs(56 balls) which included 9 fours and 3 sixes. After this, the Irish side was able to score only 54 runs at the loss of 2 wickets till the 9th over but due to rain interruption, the match had to stop and later abandoned.

With this win, now team India finishes 2nd in the points table from Group B unless Pakistan beat England by a huge margin and takes India to the top of the group. England has already reached the semi-finals now they will fight to secure their top spot in group B. The England team is currently at the top of the points table with three wins from three matches and six points and they are likely to face New Zealand in the semis. ENG-W will play the last group match against Pakistan tonight.

At the same time, India's net run rate is +0.290. The other teams in the group West Indies, Ireland and Pakistan from Group B are out of the tournament. Indian women's team has made it to the semi-finals of the T20 WC for the third time in a row since the year 2018. In 2020, India travelled till the finals.

India's skipper Harmanpreet Kaur created history in the match played against Ireland. She became the first player in the world to have played 150 T20 International matches. Before her, no male or female player in the world could play 150 T20 International matches. The Indian women's captain left behind Rohit Sharma, who has played 148 T20 Internationals. Among women, Kaur is followed by New Zealand's Suzie Bates, who has played 143 T20 Internationals. She also completed her 3,000 runs in T20 Internationals.