On Wednesday (February 23), India suffered a heart-wrenching five-run defeat versus Australia in the first semi-final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023, held in Cape Town.
Chasing 173 for victory, India lost three wickets in the first four overs. But, the team captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues’ partnership of 69 runs for the fourth wicket kept India’s hopes alive. However, Harmanpreet’s bizarre run-out proved to be a turning point in the match.
During the fourth delivery of the 15th over, Harmanpreet played a slog sweep to deep mid-wicket against Georgia Wareham. She completed a single but her bat got stuck in the middle while coming back for the second run. Aussie wicketkeeper outAlyssa Healy was quick to remove the bails, and Harmanpreet had to walk back to the dug after a well-made 52 off 34 balls. Her dismissal was termed “schoolgirl error” by former England captain Nasser Hussain, who was commentating at that moment.
Despite the disappointment of the defeat, India showed glimpses of promise in their performance. The partnership between Harmanpreet and Rodrigues gave India a fighting chance, after their bowlers restricted Australia to 172, which was a par score for the conditions. While it was a bitter pill to swallow for the Indian team, they can take heart from their performance and come back stronger in the future.
In the aftermath of the match, Harmanpreet was quizzed about her run-out.
“How will you take the pressure when someone like Nasser Hussain on live commentary calls it a schoolgirl error or a club cricket error? How do you defend something like that?” the reporter asked.
The Indian skipper looked surprised after knowing that Nasser made such a remark. She kept her calm and gave a fitting reply.
“He [Nasser] said that? (Raises her eyebrows). 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. 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,” she added.
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