Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s hard-fought half-century in vain, as Australia edges past India to push them on the verge of elimination
Australia led by the stand-in skipper Tahlia McGrath was up against India led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur in the 18th match of the tournament at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Australian skipper Tahlia McGrath won the toss and opted to bat first. Renuka Singh Thakur provided India with the ideal start, sending Beth Mooney and Georgia Wareham back into the pavilion inside the first three overs of the innings.
Skipper Tahlia McGrath joined Grace Harris at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 62-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take their side closer to the 100-run mark. Radha Yadav picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Tahlia McGrath to provide the 3rd breakthrough for her side. Australia lost a couple of wickets in quick succession to bring India firmly back into the contest.
Phoebe Litchfield joined Ellyse Perry at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 33-run partnership for the 6th wicket to take their side past the 130-run mark. Deepti Sharma picked up the wicket of Ellyse Perry to provide the 6th breakthrough for India. Australia eventually ended up with a total of 151/8 in their quota of 20 overs. Grace Harris (40 off 41 balls), Ellyse Perry (32 off 23 balls), Tahlia McGrath (32 off 26 balls), and Phoebe Litchfield (15* off 9 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Australia.
Renuka Singh (4-0-24-2), Deepti Sharma (4-0-28-2), Pooja Vastrakar (3-0-22-1), Shreyanka Patil (4-0-32-1), and Radha (2-0-14-1), were the top performers with the ball for India. Chasing a target of 152, the Indian openers, Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana got their side off to a decent start with a 26-run opening partnership. Ashleigh Gardner picked up the wicket of Shafali Verma to provide the first breakthrough for Australia. India lost a couple of wickets in quick succession in their bid to maintain the scoring rate.
Deepti Sharma joined skipper Harmanpreet Kaur at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 63-run partnership for the 4th wicket to take their side past the 100-run mark. Sophie Molineux picked up the wicket of Deepti Sharma to provide the 4th breakthrough for her side. Wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 5th breakthrough for Australia.
Thrilling clash ends in heartbreak for India as Australia wins 4 in 4 and storms into the semis!
Annabel Sutherland holds her nerve in the last over.#CricketTwitter #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/jKSefLh2VF
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) October 13, 2024
India were eventually restricted to 142/9 in their quota of 20 overs, ending up 9 runs short of the target. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (54* off 47 balls), Deepti Sharma (29 off 25 balls), Shafali Verma (20 off 13 balls), and Jemimah Rodrigues (16 off 12 balls) were the top performers with the bat for India. Annabel Sutherland (4-0-22-2), Sophie Molineux (4-0-32-2), and Megan Schutt (4-0-25-1) were the top performers with the ball for Australia.
Sophie Molineux was awarded the Player of the Match for her brilliant bowling spell of 4-0-32-2.
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