CAPE TOWN: Harmanpreet Kaur’s freak dismissal in the crucial moment add to a string of knockout losses that ended India’s hope to win the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup as Women in Blue suffered a 5-run defeat against Australia in the semi-final on Thursday.
India’s wait for a world title continued as they succumbed to a heartbreaking five-run loss to Australia in the semifinal of the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on Thursday, where nerves of Aussies prevailed over top knocks from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues.
Harmanpreet was run out at a critical time in India’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 semi-final against Australia. The India skipper, who made it out to the middle despite being sick, was playing superbly to achieve her half-century and put her team in contention to chase Australia’s 172/4.
But a bizarre moment sent Kaur back to the dugout when her bat jammed in the wicket as she ran it in, leaving her short of her ground as Alyssa Healy whipped off the bails. She was run out for 52. Speaking after the game, a visibly upset Harmanpreet spoke of her huge disappointment in failing to win a game that had seemed in India’s grasp.
“Cannot be unluckier than this, to get that momentum back when me and Jemi were batting. And to lose after that, we did not expect this today. The way I got runout, cannot be unluckier than that. Putting in the effort was more important. We discussed about fighting till the last ball. The result did not go our way, but I am happy with the way we played in this tournament,” said Harmanpreet in a post-match presentation.
“We know we have a good batting lineup even if we lose early wickets. Need to give credit to Jemi for the way she batted today. She got us the momentum we were looking for. Happy to see such performances. Happy to see them play their natural game. Even though we did not play to our strengths, we reached the semis. We gave those easy catches away. Got to take those when you want to win. We misfielded. We can only learn from these lessons and not repeat the mistakes,” added the skipper.
India captain Harmanpreet has received support from other legends of the game after her freak run-out against Australia in the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
National Cricket Academy chief VVS Laxman took to Twitter to show support for India captain and said that Harmanpreet’s run-out was the turning point in the match.
https://twitter.com/VVSLaxman281/status/1628791782522880000
“Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues looked like taking the game away, but the Aussies fought back brilliantly & in the end India have fallen short. Harmanpreet’s run-out was the turning point,” said VVS Laxman on Twitter.
And former Indian opener Virender Sehwag was not the only one to spot the parallels between the famous dismissal of another Indian captain in a huge match.
https://twitter.com/virendersehwag/status/1628793108162043904
“Match winner at the crease and Run out in a semi-final. We have had this heartbreak before. Sad to see India out. Were running away with the game but Australia proved again why they are a v difficult side to beat. Well tried girls #INDWvAUSW,” Virender Sehwag tweeted.
Coming to the match, Australia put up 172/4 in their 20 overs after electing to bat first. Beth Mooney scored a fine half-century, 54 off 37 balls. Skipper Meg Lanning (49*) and Ashleigh Gardner (31*) played fine knocks to support Mooney.
Shikha Pandey was the pick of the bowlers for India, taking 2/32 in four overs. Radha Yadav and Deepti Sharma took a wicket each.
Chasing 173, India was reduced to 28/3. A 69-run stand between Jemimah Rodrigues (43) and Harmanpreet helped swing momentum in favour of India. Harmanpreet scored a fine fifty. However, Australia held their nerves to deny India a place in the final.
Gardner and Darcie Brown picked up two wickets for Aussies. Jess Jonassen, Megan Schutt took a wicket each. Gardner clinched ‘Player of the Match’ award for her all-round show. Victory for Australia means they have reached their seventh successive ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final, and will be looking for their sixth title and third in succession when they return to Newlands to play either England or South Africa on Sunday. (ANI)