India’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur believes that if it weren’t for her unfortunate dismissal in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 semifinal in Cape Town on Thursday, February 23, they would have defeated Australia with one over remaining.
Although it appeared that Harmanpreet would lead India to victory, she was unexpectedly run out in the 15th over, which allowed the Australians to retake the lead.
The all-rounder from Punjab was slowly jogging back for the second run. But before the crease, her bat became jammed, and when Alyssa Healy saw, the bails had been moved, she was in the air with her feet.
Harmanpreet asserted during the press conference following the game that she could have easily won the game for her team if she hadn’t got run out.
“Yes, because I think if my bat didn’t get stuck and I would’ve easily finished that run, she said. “I think if I had stayed till the last moment, we could have definitely finished the match one over earlier as we had the momentum.”
The next few overs, during which Australia squeaked out a few dot deliveries, turned the game in their opponents’ advantage, according to the Indian captain.
“But even after that, you know, Deepti was there, Richa was there,” she continued. “I had a self-belief that they can do it too because Richa has also batted well in all the matches till now. But I think after I got out, we played 7-8 dot balls in the middle and the match turned there. Otherwise, we had a good momentum and the match was going well.”
“I think I got a good response from Jemmy too” – Harmanpreet Kaur
India ran into trouble when attempting to chase 173 runs, losing three wickets in the span of four overs. But, a 69-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodrigues saved India from harm.
The senior cricketer clarified the conversations that took place when they were both at bat by saying:
“Like Jemmy and I had a partnership, we were talking that we just have to stay positive and convert the loose balls into boundaries. We needed eight runs in one over from the start, so that calculation was on our mind and we were batting keeping that in mind.”
“I think I got a good response from Jemmy too. She was looking very positive and it felt really good when your partner responds positively and meets the ball. So, you get to learn a lot while standing on the non-striker end and you feel very positive. So, I think the partnership had brought momentum towards us and we wanted to continue that. I think my run-out was a turning point.”
India was held to 167/8 by Darcie Brown and Ashleigh Gardner, who each took two wickets, allowing Australia to win by five runs and advance to their sixth straight final.
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