Tough crucial match for New Zealand

New Zealand and India open the fifth round of the CricInfo Women's World Cup at Lincoln's BIL Oval tomorrow with a key confrontation that will have a major bearing on the finishing order at the top of the table.

Each team has three wins and one loss (to Australia) from their first four matches. Unless there are upsets of major proportions in the last three rounds, their places in the semi-finals are assured. The significance of this match is in determining the semi-final line-ups and gaining a psychological advantage if the teams should meet again at the sudden-death stage.

With four matches played, New Zealand have the advantage over India on run rate. However, losing the toss and chasing small targets set by Ireland and the Netherlands means the home side go into this match with their top order short on batting time in the middle. That is not the ideal preparation from which to deal with the accurate Indian medium pacers let alone unravel the mysteries of the Indian spinners.

Both teams have had their build-ups disrupted by umpires' reports recommending investigation of the bowling actions of Erin McDonald (New Zealand) and Renu Margrate (India). The Indians have had the further misfortune of having their star batsman, the teenager Mithali Raj, struck down by a throat infection. Last night she was a doubtful starter.

At the beginning of the tournament even the Indians would not have offered any prediction on their chances against New Zealand. As the competition has progressed, however, they have shown that they are a difficult team to beat. This could be one of the matches of the World Cup.