Determined, focused, unrelenting, combative... Words would fall short if one wanted to describe India Women’s incredible five-wicket win over Australia Women in the Women’s ODI World Cup semi-final on Thursday.
In a chase of dreams, the hosts knocked out the defending champions by chasing down a record 339-run target and earned themselves a shot at glory. They will take on South Africa Women in the final on Sunday. Women’s cricket is all set to have new champions this time.
An impressive turnout of almost 35,000 at the DY Patil Stadium cheered not just the fall of every Australian wicket, but even the dot balls the Indian bowlers bowled and the runs their batters scored. Jay Shah, the ICC chairman, and BCCI president Mithun Manhas were also there, in the VIP box. So were Bollywood superstar Kareena Kapoor Khan and former Women’s captain Mithali Raj. Barring the Australians, India Women disappointed nobody.
Jemimah Rodrigues (127 not out off 134 balls) played the innings of her career, while Harmanpreet Kaur (89 off 88 balls) too played a captain’s knock as India achieved the extraordinary feat of prevailing over the strong Australian bowling group and securing their third Women’s ODI World Cup final berth.
What makes the win in this second semi-final even more special for India is that the chase turned out to be their highest-ever in the format and also the highest-ever in an ODI World Cup. What’s sweeter? They bettered the Australians’ feat (331) which the visitors had achieved a few days ago against the Indians in the group-stage game in Visakhapatnam.
Australians seldom choke, but this was one rare occasion when the invincibles made mistakes. The two regulation catches that keeper-batter and opener Alyssa Healy and Tahlia McGrath dropped when Jemimah was on 82 and 106 proved that the pressure had got on to the otherwise steely Australians.
Precisely, it was the 167-run third-wicket stand in 26 overs between Jemimah and Harmanpreet, which had put the pressure back onto the Australians. A bit of dew had also made batting a tad easier.
Jemimah, though, deserves all the kudos for her brilliant temperament and composure. For a moment or two, she looked as if she was tiring a little bit as the boundaries too had dried up from her bat since Harmanpreet’s departure. But she refused to give in and hung on.
She regathered her breath and even though she lost two set batters in Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh, she held her nerves and remained determined. All-rounder Amanjot Kaur made sure Jemimah’s heroics didn’t go in vain as she got the boundaries when it mattered. India got home with nine balls to spare.
Credit has to be given to skipper Harmanpreet too for her innings, especially after her questionable field placings allowed the likes of Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner some easy runs, which allowed Australia to post a 338-run total after opting to bat first. The scorecard read 59/2 in the 10th over when Harmanpreet took the crease. By the time she left, at 226/3, she had given India hope.
Jemimah and the rest converted that hope into a dream win.