Auckland: Chasing the biggest target in Women’s World Cup 2022 history, Australia defeated India (IND W vs AUS W) by six wickets to ensure their semi-final spot here on Saturday. Fifties from captain Mithali Raj (68 off 96 balls), Yastika Bhatia (59 off 83 balls) and Haranpreet Kaur (57 not out off 47 balls) helped India post 277 for seven.
No team in the history of the tournament could have chased down such a big target but Australia’s fine form and the Meg Lanning-led side registered their fifth win in five matches on a pitch favored by Eden Park’s batting. Openers Alyssa Healy (72 off 65 balls) and Rachael Haynes (43 off 52 balls) gave Australia a quick start with a 121-run partnership before skipper Lanning (97 off 107 balls) took the team closer to victory. . Jhulan Goswami had to defend eight runs in the last over but Beth Mooney (30 not out off 20 balls) gave the team victory in the first three balls.
The game went till the final over! #TeamIndia fought hard right till the end but Australia clinch a 6-wicket victory
India will look to bounce back in the remaining two matches#CWC22 , #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/jL4CekzzSv
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) March 19, 2022
The defeat has made it difficult for India to reach the semi-finals, having suffered a third defeat in five matches. The runners-up team of the 2017 edition will now take on South Africa and Bangladesh in their remaining league matches. While batting was a matter of concern for India before the match, Australia, in contrast, chased down this challenging target with ease, although their bowlers will have to give a lot of thought to their performance. Healy and the in-form Haynes were aggressive from the start, scoring runs as per their choice against the Indian bowling attack – pacers and spinners.
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Jhulan Goswami and Meghna Singh were bowling either full length or very short in the beginning. Healy batted aggressively, scoring runs against him with cover drivers, cut shots and pull shots. When India’s best spinner Rajeshwari Gaikwad came out to bowl, Healy put the rival team under more pressure with excellent sweep shots. When the Aussies were on their way to victory, the rain disturbed the match and the match was stopped. Then the team’s score was 225 runs for two wickets, but soon the game started and Australia won without any trouble.
Earlier, Mithali and Yastika put on a crucial 130-run stand for the third wicket when India cheaply lost the wickets of openers Smriti Mandhana and Shefali Verma. India’s score was reduced from 158 for two to 213 for six, after which Harmanpreet scored an unbeaten 57 in 47 balls to take the team ahead of the score of 250 runs. Pooja Vastrakar once again added quick runs in the end, scoring 34 off 28 balls. Pooja and Harmanpreet shared a 47-ball 64 for the seventh wicket as India increased their score by 52 runs in the last five overs.
India brought in opener Shefali in place of all-rounder Deepti Sharma to strengthen the batting. After getting the invitation to bat, Shefali (12) and Smriti (10 runs) came out to bat, but both were dismissed early. Batting at number three, Yastika scored his maiden fifty in the tournament. She played a good role in supporting the experienced Mithali who dropped a place to be at number four. The captain, who did not do well in the first four matches, finally scored a half-century. Although Mithali and Yastika were finding it difficult to rotate the strike early in the innings, the runs started adding up once both of them got in touch. He made good use of the ‘late cut’ against spinners Alana King and Ashley Gardner. The day was not good for these two bowlers of Australia.
Mithali also hit a straight six off left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen during her maiden half-century in the tournament. Yastika and Mithali lost their wickets while trying to score runs fast. Harmanpreet then played a responsible game and ensured that the team put up a competitive score. The T20 captain made her third score of more than 50 runs in the tournament which proved that she is the best player of the tournament.
However, he was dropped from the playing XI before the World Cup due to poor form. Haranpreet used his ‘trademark’ sweep shot against both the spinners and the fast bowlers to put pressure on the opponents. Pooja helped him in this by hitting two sixes and a four. Usually Australian bowlers bowl disciplined, but they bowled 24 wide balls, which only benefited India. (agency)