How India's victory over Bangladesh affects their ICC Women's T20 World Cup campaign? Scenarios explained

India kept their ICC Women's T20 World Cup campaign alive with a five-wicket victory over Bangladesh in Manchester on Thursday, chasing down a target of 137 with more than three overs to spare.

The Women in Blue's hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the ongoing tournament in England took a big hit after their six-wicket loss at the hands of South Africa at the same venue on Sunday. It left India needing to win both of their remaining group fixtures if they were to stand a chance of reaching the semi-finals.

And while they were scratchy against Bangladesh at Old Trafford on Thursday, spilling multiple chances, they managed to finish on the right side of the result to keep their knockout hopes alive.

Shafali, spinners setup victory over Bangladesh

Spinners Radha Yadav (3/28) and Shree Charani (2/21) were the pick of the Indian bowlers as Bangladesh were restricted to 136/8 after opting to bat, losing wickets in a heap in the second half of their innings.

More from Firstcricket

Shafali Verma (53 off 34) later struck a fiery half-century to bring her team back on track after star opener and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (8) departed early. India did suffer a wobble in the middle overs, going from 76/1 to 98/4 in the 13th over, with the Bangladeshis slowly clawing their way back.

Senior batter Jemimah Rodrigues  – pushed to the No 5 slot – and captain Harmanpreet Kaur (13 not out) eased the nerves in the Indian camp and among their supporters with a 30-run partnership for the fifth wicket that took them within touching distance of the target.

Harmanpreet later got her team over the line after Rodrigues' dismissal, ensuring India gave their Net Run Rate a major boost, reaching the target with 19 balls to spare.

How the victory over Bangladesh affects India's semi-final chances

As per the format of the tournament, the top-two teams from each group qualify for the semi-finals with the winner of one group facing the runner-up of the other.

India remain at the second spot after their victory over Bangladesh, and thus are on track to qualify for the World Cup knockouts. And they should remain at the second spot even if South Africa beat Netherlands in Bristol later on Thursday.

That is because of the wide gulf between the two teams in terms of NRR, with India's (+2.268) being the best among all teams participating in the 12-team tournament after six-time champions Australia (+4.724).

South Africa's NRR ahead of their match against Netherlands reads -0.546, meaning the Laura Wolvaardt-led side will have to win by a astronomical margin if they are to surpass the Women in Blue after their fourth match. They had, after all, suffered a 65-run thrashing at the hands of Australia in their tournament opener, and have been playing catch-up ever since.

Where things get tricky, however, is in the fifth and final group-fixture for India and South Africa. The Women in Blue face six-time champions Australia, who are one of just two teams that are yet to lose a game in the ongoing tournament.

Women in Blue face a tricky path to semis

South Africa, on the other hand, face Bangladesh – who aren't quite on the same level as the Southern Stars but are a competitive side nevertheless, and the Proteas can ill-afford to take them lightly.

If Australia beat India and South Africa beat Bangladesh – both games taking place on Sunday – South Africa are through to the semi-finals along with Australia as they will finish second ahead of India with 8 points. That is assuming the Proteas beat the Dutch on Thursday.

However, if India defeat Australia they way they did in the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup in November, there will be a three-way tie between the two teams and South Africa on 8 points, assuming they finish with 8 points. In such a scenario, India and Australia will be favourites to qualify due to their NRR.

However, if South Africa lose either of their two remaining games, then it's advantage Team India due to their superior NRR. In such as scenario, Harmanpreet and Co cannot afford to lose to Australia by a big margin, lest they fall behind the Proteas on this metric.