India batter Jemimah Rodrigues reckoned that the unfortunate run out of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was the turning point of India’s loss to Australia in the first semi-final of the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World cup 2023 in Cape Town.
Australia made 172/4 with Beth Mooney making 54 and Meg Lanning slamming 49* with Ashleigh Gardner contributing an 18-ball 31. In reply, India was on course to chase the target down when Jemimah Rodrigues (43 in 24 balls) and Harmanpreet Kaur (52) were batting and added 69 runs for the fifth wicket.
However, then Rodrigues was out caught behind and shortly after completing her fifty, Harmanpreet was run out with 16 needed off the last over, Deepti Sharma couldn’t hit the big shots needed and India finished on 167/8 and lost the match by 5 runs.
After the game, Jemimah reflected on how India dominated for the majority of the game but faltered near the end.
"We were going well. We had it under control. If you had seen them most of the time, we were above them in every phase. Just the last phase we messed up. But yeah, it's a tough loss to take. Harman's dismissal was a very unfortunate one. I don't know what to say. I don't think anybody's happy. Everyone's disappointed, but at the same time, this is like a learning experience. And I promise you that every single girl is going to work very hard," Jemimah Rodrigues was quoted as saying by ICC.
Rodrigues said that Richa Ghosh is someone who can become a finisher for the Indian team as she has the ability to hit big shots.
"I think the first one will be the rise of youngsters like Richa. This Indian team is searching for a finisher and she could be the one, and she is actually the one for us. This team shows a lot of promise. And if you go to see how the average age is, it's around 24, so I imagine that we'll be giving this Australian team competition a few years down the line," Rodrigues added.
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