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Despite battling hard and coming so close to a win, it could well be the end of India’s challenge in the Women’s T20 World Cup after losing narrowly to Australia in a must-win game at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday night in front of a full house.
India can now progress to the semi-finals only if Pakistan beat New Zealand in their final league match in Dubai on Monday. It will be an agonising 24-hour wait for the Indian players, who fought hard against the defending champions, but could not overcome their superior opponents.
Also Read: Women’s T20 World Cup 2024: Semi-final qualification in peril as India stumble against Australia
Grace Harris during her 40 yesterday
Getting 152 on the slow and low pitch here at an asking rate of 7.60 runs per over was always going to be tough. But to India’s credit, they fought bravely till the end and fell just 10 runs short of the target. Had the top three batters contributed substantially, the result could well have been different. Losing Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues in the first seven overs for 47 runs was not the ideal start. But skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma kept India in the hunt with a 63-run stand till the latter holed out in the deep. Richa Ghosh was run out soon after and Harmanpreet was left to battle singlehandedly, but to no avail. She remained unbeaten on 54 off 46 balls with six fours, as she kept losing partners at the other end.
It was a story of a lot of ifs and buts, but that’s cricket for you. First was losing the toss, then allowing the opponents to garner over 150, a score not chased at this venue during the current tournament, and then the flop show of the top three Indian batters. The only satisfaction the crowd got was to see the Indian girls fight it out right till the end.
Opting to bat, Australia notched up 151 for eight with Grace Harris the standout performer, scoring a solid 40, while Ellyse Perry and Tahlia McGrath contributed 32 runs apiece.
Renuka Singh, who was instrumental in providing early breakthroughs, claimed two wickets for 23 runs in her four overs. Deepti Sharma also picked up two wickets, demonstrating her effectiveness in the middle overs. Shreyanka Patil, Pooja Vastrakar, and Radha Yadav each chipped in with a wicket, while one Sophie Molineux was run out when stopped midway, thinking she had been caught out.
India (4 points, NRR of 0.322) are placed second in the table currently, behind Australia. NZ are also on 4 points, but third, with a NRR of 0.282.
Winning all their four games, this one without their captain Alyssa Healy, the Australians became the first team to make it to the semi-finals They have a few days rest before they think of their match in the knockout.
Brief scores
Australia 151-8 in 20 overs (G Harris 40, E Perry 32, T McGrath 32; R Singh 2-24, D Sharma 2-28) beat India 142-9 in 20 overs (H Kaur 54*; A Sutherland 2-22, S Molineux 2-32) by nine runs
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