India suffered a heartbreaking five-run defeat at the hands of Australia in the first semi-final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 in Cape Town on Thursday (February 23).
Chasing 173 to win, the Women in Blue lost three wickets within four overs but skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues added 69 runs for the fourth wicket to keep the team in the hunt.
In fact, India were in the driver’s seat when Harmanpreet was at the crease. However, her bizarre run out proved to be a game-changer.
During the fourth delivery of the 15th over, Harmanpreet Kaur played a slog sweep to deep mid-wicket against Georgia Wareham. She completed a single but while coming back for the second one, her bat got stuck in the middle and she failed to make it back to the crease. Wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy made no mistake and removed the bails as the Indian skipper departed for 52 off 34 balls, including 6 fours and 1 six.
Reacting to the dismissal, former England captain Nasser Hussain said it was a ‘schoolgirl error’ from Harmanpreet.
In the post-match press conference, Harmanpreet was asked about the same and she replied that it was by no means a ‘school girl error’ and it’s just that her bat got stuck.
“He [Nasser] said that? Post-match? Okay. I don’t know, that’s his way of thinking but sometimes it happens. I have seen many times in cricket when batters are taking a single like that and the bat gets stuck there. Obviously, I will take it as, we were unlucky today," she said.
“Some things we still have to improve to go to the finals. Definitely, we didn’t field well, we didn’t bowl well in patches and we didn’t bat well. You have to do well in all the departments, then only you have the chance to go to the finals."
“I think it was unlucky but I don’t think it was a mistake by a school girl. We are mature enough, we are playing international cricket and whatever he said, that’s his way of thinking. I don’t think it was like that," the Indian captain added.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s wicket also triggered a collapse as India’s innings was eventually restricted to 167/8 in 20 overs. Another loss in a knock-out game extended India's long wait for an ICC trophy.
(CricketNext Inputs)
