Australia are through to their seventh successive Women’s T20 World Cup final but this time faced an almighty fight from India, who fell just five runs short of the target in a thrilling semi-final at the Newlands in Cape Town on Friday, February 24.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur (52 off 34) scored a magnificent half-century, and added a valuable 69-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Jemimah Rodrigues (43 off 24), but failed to take her side over the finish line. Chasing a daunting target of 173, India’s lower-order batters succumbed under pressure and could manage only 167 for 8 in their 20 overs.
Even India’s fielding effort left a lot be desired as Australia opener Beth Mooney and skipper Meg Lanning were dropped in the early part of their innings. The duo went on to score 54 (37) and 49 not out (34). One of the best power-hitters in the cricketing world, Ashleigh Gardner, also hurt India with 31 off 18 balls.
“It was a tense finish. One of the best wins I’ve been involved in, to fight back after not playing the best cricket in all three facets. We missed our lengths and gave some width. India came hard at us, so we knew this score would have been hard to defend. But we pulled through in the clutch moments. We got nervous a couple of times. But we knew playing against these guys, that you need to stay in the game to get over the line. Kaur was unfortunate. I think we are able to stay calm and composed, we didn’t panic even when we weren’t bowling well. These are the kind of games we want to win. Can’t wait to get here for the final,” said Australia captain Lanning in the post-match presentation.
Brief Scores: Australia 172-4 (Beth Mooney 54, Meg Lanning 49*; Shikha Pandey 2/32) beat India (Harmanpreet Kaur 52, Jemimah Rodrigues 43; Darcie Brown 2/18) by five runs.
