After Australia’s big players stepped up to past 172-4 on the board, India’s top three could add only 15 runs among themselves. Kaur (52) and Rodrigues (43) spearheaded the chase by adding brilliant 69-run stand for the fourth wicket off just 41 balls.
But after the departure of Rodrigues and Kaur’s run-out after the 10-over mark meant India could never recover from it and finished at 167-8 in 20 overs, failing to win a knockout game once again.
India’s sloppy fielding and poor bowling performance in the death overs was also the key reason behind India’s narrow defeat.
Before this game, India were defeated in the finals of the 2018 and 2020 edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup. Last year, they lost to Australia in the gold medal match of the Commonwealth Games 2022.
India captain Kaur got emotional after the heartbreaking loss and came out with sunglasses during the post-match presentation.
“I don’t want my country to see me crying, hence I am wearing these glasses, I promise, we will improve and won’t let our nation down like this again,” she said after the match.
“The way I got runout, can’t be unluckier than that. Putting in the effort was more important. We discussed fighting till the last ball. The result didn’t go our way, but I am happy with the way we played in this tournament. We know we have a good batting line up even if we lose early wickets. Need to give credit to Jemi for the way she batted today. She got us the momentum we were looking for,” added Kaur.
Here’s how cricket fraternity reacted to India’s defeat in the semifinal:
No 7 getting run out in a World Cup Semi final. We have seen this beforeDisappointing result but Proud of you @BCCIWomen ?
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) February 23, 2023
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