So close, yet so far. That summed up India's run chase against defending champions Australia in the must-win ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 clash. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur who was slow in the middle overs accelerated towards the end but it wasn't a one-person job in the slog overs. India needed 14 runs off the final over but Harmanpreet could not take the team over the line. On the fourth ball of the over when India needed 13 runs, Harmanpreet took the single and gave tailender Shreyanka Patil the strike. The rotation of strike did not sit well with former Indian pacer of men’s cricket team, Dodda Ganesh.
“You have a fifty against your name and then at a critical juncture you take a single and expect the new batter to score 2 sixes off two balls, to win the game. Great game awareness by the Indian skipper,” Ganesh made a sarcastic remark as India lost the match by nine runs.
Harmanpreet rues not hitting a few loose balls
Harmanpreet remained unbeaten for 54 runs from 47 balls while wickets fell at the other end. She felt it was a chaseable total and rued a few loose balls which were not hit for a boundary. She credited the Australian team for their execution as well.
“You have a fifty against your name and then at a critical juncture you take a single and expect the new batter to score 2 sixes off two balls, to win the game. Great game awareness by the Indian skipper,” Ganesh made a sarcastic remark as India lost the match by nine runs.
“It was a chaseable total. When me and Deepti were batting, we couldn't hit a few loose balls. We can learn a lot from Australia. Whatever was in our hands, we were trying to do that but that's something not in our control,” she added.
India still alive in semifinal race
Despite their second defeat at the group stage level, India are not out of the semifinal race. If Pakistan beat New Zealand, but not by a huge margin, India will go through to semifinals on the basis of net run rate (NRR). If New Zealand beat Pakistan, they will go through and India will get knocked out of the tournament.
“If we get the opportunity to play another game, that will be great. But otherwise, whoever deserves to be there, that team will be there,” she concluded.
