A spirited counterattack from Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues went in vain as India lost to Australia by five runs in the first semifinal of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023ꦛ at the Newlands Cricket Ground on Thursday (February 23).
After Australia’s big players stepped up to past 172-4 on the board, India’s top three could add only 15 runs among themselves. Kaur (52) and Rodrigues (43) spearheaded the chase by adding brilliant 69-run stand for the fourth wicket off just 41 balls.
But after the departure of Rodrigues and Kaur’s run-out after the 10-over mark meant India could never recover from it and finished at 167-8 in 20 overs, failing to win a knockout game once again.
India’s sloppy fielding and poor bowling performance in the death overs was also the key reason behind India’s narrow defeat.
Before this game, India were defeated in the finals of the 2018 and 2020 edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup. Last year, they lost to Australia in the gold medal match of the Commonwealth Games 2022.
India captain Kaur got emotional after the heartbreaking loss and came out with sunglassℱes during the post-match presentation.
“I don’t want my country to see me crying, hence I am wearing these glasses, I promise, we will improve and won’t let our nation down like this again,” she said after the match.
“The way I got runout, can’t be unluckier than that. Putting in the effort was more important. We discussed fighting till the last ball. The result didn’t go our way, but I am happy with the way we played in this tournament. We know we have a good batting line up even if we lose early wickets. Need to give credit to Jemi for the way she batted today. She got us the momentum we were looking for,” added Kaur.
Here’s how cricket fraternity reacted to India’s defeat in the semifinal:
A valiant effort Girls. A hard pill to swall✃ow ♚especially after getting so close. Proud of the effort
— Jhulan Goswami (@JhulanG10)
It was so close yet so far. Am🍸azing effort by the girls in blue! ♉ 🇮🇳
— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25)
🍸Australia are just so good. They find a way even on an indifferent day. Little things like Harmanpreet’s bat sticking in the turf created an opening and they just matched on through to another final. Darcie Brown’s 16th over also critical. Australia’s fieldi💯ng was another edge.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi)
Match winner at the crease and Run out in a semi-final. We have had this heartbreak before. Sad to see India out. Were running away with the game but Australia proved again why t𝕴hey are a v difficult side to beat. Well tried girls
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag)
No 7 getting run out in a World Cup Semi final. We 🔥have seen this b🏅efore ☹️ Disappointing result but Proud of you 👏
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath)
That’s heartbreaking 💔
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash)
Tough night for b🥂ut proud of our team! Brilliant fight shown from the girls especially the skipper &a💞mp; .
— Anil Kumble (@anilkumble1074)
Tough one… this loss
— Anjum Chopra (@chopraanjum)
What a game of cricket we've witnessed today! Wonderful effort by Jemimah and Harmanpreet but it was so close yet so far for Team India 🇮🇳..
— Yusuf Pathan (@iamyusufpathan)
So near yet so far…well tried
— parthiv patel (@parthiv9)
Considering Australia’s track record and their dominance ꦗin women’s cricket, that India ran them so close is a big leap forward for Team India. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar)
Tough luck today but still a gallant effort by our team. We’ll come back st♈ronger!
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir)
This one hurts!! Feel like we lost this one more than the Aussies w🌃on it!! Truly believed our girls would go all the way this World Cup!!
— Robin Aiyuda Uthappa (@robbieuthappa)
Tough luck Team India. & looked like taking the 💦game away but the Aussies fought back brilliantly & in the end India have fallen short. Harmanpreet’s runout was the turning point & India will be disappoin༺ted to miss out on the finals.
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281)
Indian women cricket should have won the game. Kaur batted very well but silly run out at that stage change the match. Fielding cost them the maܫtch.Bad luck.
— Madan Lal (@MadanLal1983)
