India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said that her deputy Smriti Mandhana’s wicket turned the tide in their four-run loss to England in a Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 league stage fixture at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday.

The Women in Blue had to pull off their highest-ever successful chase in ODIs to get a win over the line but they fell agonisingly short.

Chasing 289 and after losing two wickets in the PowerPlay, India’s innings was steadied by a 125-run stand for the third wicket between Smriti and Harmanpreet.

“Smriti’s wicket was the turning point for us. We still had batters, but I don’t know how things went the other way. Credit to England, it didn’t lose hope and kept bowling and getting wickets. It’s a bad feeling when you have put so much hard work in but the last five-six overs didn’t go according to the plan. It’s a heartbreaking moment,” Harmanpreet said after the match.

AS IT HAPPENED | India vs England highlights

After this loss — India’s third consecutive defeat in the ongoing tournament — the host’s semifinal chances were dealt a heavy blow.

“We are playing good cricket, we are not giving up, but we have to cross the line. In the last three games, we showed up with good cricket, but ended up on losing side. Our bowlers did a really good job, because when Heather (Knight) was batting, England was looking very good. We did a lot right, but we will have to rethink about what happened in those last five overs,” the batter added.

India next faces New Zealand in a must-win fixture on October 23 in Navi Mumbai. :Next game (against New Zealand) is very important,” Harmanpreet concluded.

If the Women in Blue lose against the White Ferns, then they will have to win their final league stage fixture against Bangladesh and hope that other fixtures go in their favour.