Harmanpreet fight not enough as India women fall short to take CWG silver in women's T20, Australia win gold
The India women's cricket team put on a brave fight but ended second best as they lost to Australia in the women's T20 gold medal match at the Commonwealth Games 2022 on Sunday. India, who at one stage looked set to banish the ghosts of the 2017 and 2020 World Cup finals, had to be content with a silver following yet another batting collapse. From 118/2, India were all out for 152 in chase of 162 despite a fighting half-century from captain Harmanpreet Kaur as Australia took home historic gold with a 9-run win.
India's hopes of getting off to a brisk start rested on the shoulder of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma, both of whom had been in superb form. But Australia dented India's hopes by dismissing both openers inside three overs. Mandhana was bowled walking across the line, while Varma, who had scored two quick boundaries, skied the ball to Tahlia McGrath, three balls after Megan Schutt had dropped a sitter to give her a reprieve.
India were 28/2 after five overs, desperately needing to break the shackles and that is when Harmanpreet and Rodrigues came to the fore. In the final over of the Powerplay, Rodrigues creamed a delightful cover drive, to go with a pull and a drive of Harmanpreet's own. McGrath came into the attack and she was welcomed with a couple of boundaries as well, with Harmanpreet bringing out her effective sweep shots. She tonked a six off Jess Jonassen to bring up a fifty-run partnership and switched to third gear. McGrath was smashed for back-to back boundaries and a single later, Harmanpreet had her fifty up off 36 balls.
But that is when the wheels began falling off. Megan Schutt bowled Jemimah with a slower one and in the next over, the experiment to promote Pooja Vastrakar failed as she holed out in the deep. Then came India's biggest jolt as Harmanpreet, trying to play the lap stroke, gave a catch to wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy after the ball ricocheted off her shoulders and in the air. At this stage, Australia had one foot in the door and they broke it down by running through the lower order. India's last five wickets fell for 13 runs with Ashleigh Gardner finishing with 3/16.
Earlier, one of India's star performers of the CWG 2022, fast bowler Renuka Thakur was once again right on the money from her first ball. Alysa Healy began with a streaky boundary, an outside edge for four but Thakur sent her back quickly out LBW. Initially given not out, Harmanpreet took the review with one second left on the clock, and India had their first breakthrough.
Australia captain Lanning, who had notched up only one double-digit score until now, gave Mooney good support. After seeing off the first few deliveries the Aussie captain opened up, hitting five fours and smoking one six. She and Mooney added 74 runs for the second wicket and looked set for more before Radha Yadav happened. She led India's spirited fielding with an unbelievable run out of Lanning. The ball was hit back to the bowler and Radha, unaware of the situation picked it and threw it onto the stumps. Unfortunately for Australia, Mooney was down the wicket looking for a single and had to lose her wicket.
Yadav's effort ignited a brilliant comeback. She followed her run out with a sharp catch at point to see the back of Tahlia McGrath, and Meghna Singh completed a fine catch running behind as India continue to chip in. But standing in front of them was Mooney, who reached a half-century off 36 balls. With a four off Deepti through the off-side, Mooney became the leading run-scorer of CWG 2022. Her innings ended courtesy another piece of fielding by Deepti Sharma who took a stunning one-handed catch running backwards. Despite Rachael Haynes' 18 off 10 balls, India gave away only 11 runs off the final two overs while picking up a wicket in each of their last five overs.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
