Indian team booked a spot in the final of the women’s cricket competition in the ongoing Commonwealth Games, with a thrilling four-run victory over England in the semi-final at Edgbaston on Saturday (August 6).
Opting to bat first, the Women in Blue rode on Smriti Mandhana’s 31-ball 61 and Jemimah Rodrigues’ unbeaten 44 off 31 balls to post 164/5 on the board.
Freya Kemp was the pick of the bowler for England, claiming two wickets by conceding 22 runs in her three overs.
In reply, England fell agonizingly short of the target. They were in the driver’s seat at one stage as opener Danielle Wyatt (35) and skipper Natalie Sciver (41) played handy knocks. Later, wicketkeeper Amy Jones looked set to take the hosts over the line but a silly run out opened the gates for India.
Amy Jones got run out in the 17th over on 31 as England lost the plot and were restricted to 160/6 in 20 overs. Apart from her, Alice Capsey and Natalie Sciver also got run out during England’s innings.
For India, Deepti Sharma starred with the ball, picking one wicket by giving away only 18 runs in her four overs. Sneh Rana, who affected two out of the three run outs, also returned with impressive bowling figures of 2 for 28 in her four overs while also defending 14 runs in the last over successfully.
Cricket fraternity lauded Harmanpreet Kaur and company for their stunning performance in the semi-final of the Commonwealth Games 2022.
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