Harmanpreet Kaur’s shocking dismissal allowed Meg Lanning and co. to stage a late comeback, flipping the tie on its head. She wanted to lead India to a historic victory over Australia.
After the Indian women’s talismanic batter walked out to bat for the Asian giants in the first semi-final of the ICC Women’s World T20 2023 against the formidable Australian team at Newlands on Thursday, all eyes were on Harmanpreet Kaur.
India faced a difficult challenge in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup in Cape Town. Due to its subpar fielding and Australia’s dominance of the top order.
In the high-scoring semi-final against India, opener Beth Mooney and captain Meg Lanning led Australia to a challenging total after winning the toss and choosing to bat first.
Shafali Verma (9) and Smriti Mandhana (2), are India’s openers. Failed to impress as they attempted to chase down the intimidating target of 173 in the 20-over contest.
India was on the verge of a shocking batting collapse after Yastika Bhatia was dismissed. But skipper Harmanpreet saved the Women in Blue’s hopes with wild innings.
India kept the match alive through the final over despite being in serious trouble at 28/3. Harmanpreet, the captain, led the way with a gritty half-century. After suffering from a fever a few hours prior to the match.
Before her shocking dismissal allowed Lanning and Co. to stage a late comeback. Harmanpreet was poised to flip the tie around and lead India to a historic victory over Australia.
In an effort to secure a comfortable double, Harmanpreet played a slog sweep toward the middle of the wicket.
Harmanpreet was jogging back to complete the run when her bat became stuck. When wicketkeeper Healy removed the bails, her feet were in the air. India lost badly when Harmanpreet declared run out in the 15th over.
When Harmanpreet declared run out during India’s unsuccessful run chase in Cape Town, his teammates were left in shock.
After the skipper and Jemimah Rodrigues finished their counter-attacking 69-run partnership, it was all downhill from there.
Harmanpreet and Jemimah made a lot of boundaries to get India back and make Australia panic, but Jemimah got kicked out for trying to shoot ramp shots, which gave the other team some breathing room.
Harmanpreet was also brisk, reaching her half-century in just 32 deliveries. However, her excellent score was ended by an odd run-out, her first in five years, in which her bat got stuck in the ground.
Read Also :- Deepti reaches a milestone as India defeats WI