Captain’s efforts go in vain as India-W slumps against Australia

It just wasn’t the right day for the Indian women in Sharjah as Australia continued their unbeaten run in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup to qualify for the semi-finals. After yesterday’s defeat, India’s fate now hangs by a very slender thread.

Winning the toss, Australia opted to bat first and the Indian bowlers were quick to provide a glimmer of early hope. Renuka Singh’s double whammy saw the back of Beth Mooney (2) and Georgia Wareham (0) in no time. But Australia’s stand-in skipper, Tahlia McGrath (32) and Grace Harris (40) stabilized the ship and eventually started shifting the gears.

Adding 62 runs for the third wicket, it was McGrath who, trying to up the ante, lost herself to Radha Yadav. India struck again in quick succession as Deepti Sharma removed Grace Harris as well, reducing Australia to 92/4. Despite a late surge from Phoebe Litchfield, the Indian bowlers did well to constrain Australia to 151/8 at the end of 20 overs. Deepti Sharma and Renuka Singh Thakur were the pick of the lot with four wickets between them.

Chasing 152, the Indian women had a shocking start as Smriti Mandhana fell for just six. Jemimah Rodrigues (16) and Shafali Verma (20) didn’t really trouble the Aussie bowlers as the scoring rate wasn’t exactly through the roof. India started their revival through their captain, Harmanpreet Kaur (54) and Deepti Sharma (29).

The duo instilled hopes in the Indian fans as they added 63 runs for the fourth wicket before Sophie Molineux got the better of Sharma. Richa Ghosh got snuffed out with an unfortunate run-out and India started wobbling again. Ever since the fall of Deepti Sharma, it was the Captain herself who fought almost single-handedly with barely any help from the other end.

Kaur stayed unbeaten for a warring 54 but it wasn’t enough for the Indians to cross the line as they fell short by nine runs. As things stand, Pakistan will have to beat Pakistan emphatically if India are to go through to the semis. The White Ferns will be playing Pakistan today at Dubai.