India captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s 52 runs off 32 balls and Jemimah Rodrigues' 43 runs off 24 balls went in vain as the Women in Blue lost the crunch semi-final game by five runs against defending champions Australia at Newlands, Cape Town. Meg Lanning-led Australia continued their dominance as they continued their unbeaten run to enter their seventh consecutive T20 World Cup final.
At one stage, the Women in Blue were on track to register a win over the Baggy Greens but a run out changed the entire complexion of the game. Harmanpreet, who was batting like a dream, was dismissed after her bat got stuck to the ground while trying to complete a second run. The Indian skipper termed her dismissal as 'unlucky' as it became the decisive factor in the outcome of the game.
Reacting to Harmanpreet's comment about her dismissal, Australian wicketkeeper-batter Alyssa Healy took a sly dig at the Indian skipper for her casual approach and not making the 'effort'.
"It's really funny, actually. Belinda Clark messaged me after and said, like, well done for taking the bails. And it's quite an interesting one because I actually don't take the bails a lot in that sort of scenario. I think it's a waste of time and I've got to put them back on. So. it's annoying. But for some reason, I felt the need to take the bails off and it was like a bizarre moment where I looked at the umpire and I said, I think that's out," Healy said in a video shared by ABC Sport on Twitter.
"And I think Shooter (Megan Schutt) at point was like I think that also is out. So just a bizarre play and I mean Harmanpreet can say all she likes that it was so unlucky, but I mean at the end of the day she cruised back and probably could have been passed the crease, you know, an extra two metres if she genuinely put in the effort. So we'll take it.
"You could say you're unlucky all your life, but it's generally about effort and energy at that moment in time. And I know that's something we speak about in the field in particular is putting in that effort and putting in that energy. And I think that comes back to running between wickets as well. It's doing those little basics better than the opposition and that's how you win big tournaments. And I feel like we've been doing that quite well," added Healy.
Australia will face hosts South Africa in the final on February 26 (Sunday). The Baggy Greens are gunning for their sixth T20 World Cup crown while the Proteas women would look for a fairytale ending after performing brilliantly throughout the campaign.
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