India captain Harmanpreet Kaur remained a desolate figure as her team lost to Australia in the first semi-final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 on February 23 in Cape Town by just 5 runs. It was another tournament where India failed to beat both England and Australia.
Australia had posted 172/4 in 20 overs with Beth Mooney (54), Meg Lanning (49*), and Ashleigh Gardner (31 in 18 balls) being the main scorers. In the chase, Jemimah Rodrigues (43), Harmanpreet Kaur (52), and Deepti Sharma (20*) tried their best but could only manage 167/8 in 20 overs and lost the match by 5 runs.
When Harmanpreet and Jemimah were batting, India looked to chase down the total with ease. Even after Jemimah got out, Harmanpreet took over and looked good to take India past the finish line, but got run out in a bizarre manner, leaving India in a lurch.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur wore sunglasses to the post-match presentation ceremony and said that she was finding it difficult to control her emotions and tears.
“I don’t want my country to see me crying, hence I am wearing these glasses, I promise, we will improve and won’t let our nation down like this again,” Harmanpreet said.
Battling a high fever and dehydration, Harmanpreet faced a medical emergency on the eve of the match and was even hospitalized. But she soldiered on and almost took her team past the finish line.
"The way I got runout, can't be unluckier than that. Putting in the effort was more important. We discussed fighting till the last ball. The result didn't go our way, but I am happy with the way we played in this tournament. We know we have a good batting line up 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," she said.
Hosts South Africa and England will clash in the second semi-final on February 24, 2023.
(Star Sports inputs)
