India fall short in hard-fought game as Australia book finale berth
After the end of the league stages, the action moved to the knockout stages in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 as India and Australia faced each other in the first semi-final on February 23. Australia captain Meg Lanning won the toss at Newlands, Cape Town and decided to set a target for India in the all-important fixture.
Australian openers Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney started the innings positively, putting India under pressure. The Indian team looked pale and were sloppy in the field as there were several misfields and some catches dropped that helped Australia gain full control.
The openers added 52 runs for the first wicket in 45 balls before their partnership was finally broken by Radha Yadav, who dismissed Healy for 25. At the other end, Mooney continued and ended up scoring a magnificent half-century to bring her team into ascendancy. She scored 54 off 37 balls before getting dismissed by Shikha Pandey.
Following Mooney’s dismissal, Meg Lanning and Ashleigh Gardner took the innings forward with their 53-run stand off 36 balls. Gardner played a brilliant cameo of 31 off 18 balls before Deepti Sharma destroyed her stumps and gave India their third strike.
Lanning continued her captain’s knock and remained unbeaten on 49 off 34 balls as Australia posted 172/4 in their allotted 20 overs. Shikha Pandey was the pick of the bowlers from India as she finished her four-over spell with figures of 2/32.
Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues fight in vain
In reply, India got off to the worst possible start, losing the swashbuckling opener Shafali Verma in the second over itself. The matters got worse in the next over as Smriti Mandhana was trapped in front of the stumps by Gardner. It seemed like India were digging their own grave as Yastika Bhatia got involved in a bizarre run out, leaving India reeling at 28/3.
With hopes of Indian fans dying all around, in-form batter Jemimah Rodrigues and captain Harmanpreet Kaur fuelled life back into the game with their magnificent 69-run stand off 41 balls. Rodrigues couldn’t complete her half-century and was unlucky to get dismissed on 43 off 24 balls.
However, Harmanpreet continued her captain’s knock and went on to score 52 off 34 balls before she was run out. She left India on the brink of victory as they required 40 off 32 balls to win. The incoming batters tried their best but could not take their team home as they fell short by five runs.
