A nearly 15,000-strong crowd at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium witnessed an ‘injury derby’ like no other in the Women’s T20 World Cup here on Sunday.
With a semifinal berth to secure, India’s start to the game got off to the worst possible start with leg spinner Asha Sobhana hurting her knee right before the anthems were sung.
It was a match that already had Australian skipper Alyssa Healy in a moon boot, limping around on crutches after picking up a foot injury. The side had also lost express pacer Tayla Vlaeminck to a dislocated shoulder.
That’s what sets champions aside from challengers. Personnel deficits were made up for in spirit as Australia snuck past India by nine runs to put India’s semifinal hopes in jeopardy. This despite Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbeaten half-century giving India hope till the last two balls, only to fall short by the barest of margins.
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Chasing 152 on a challenging surface that had already seen three teams bat on it over the course of the day, India started cautiously.
Shafali Verma started eyeing the ropes but was eventually sent out by Ashleigh Gardner. Smriti Mandhana, proved why matchups are placed on a high pedestal in the format, falling to the left-arm spin of RCB teammate Sophie Molineux off her very first ball.
Megan Schutt’s scintillating form, in a World Cup that was meant to see spinners thrive, continued. She removed a dangerous Jemimah Rodrigues to leave India three wickets down in seven overs.
Deepti Sharma was promoted ahead of Richa Ghosh to consolidate alongside Harmanpreet and the pair put on a 62-run stand for the fourth wicket.
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However, Australia tightened its fist around the run flow. Harmanpreet and Deepti struggled to break free as the Australian fielders underlined why they are the gold standard in the international game.
After spilling a catch that could have sent Deepti back in the 9th over, Molineux could finally make amends when the allrounder holed out to Georgia Wareham at deep midwicket to break the partnership.
Pooja Vastrakar’s nine-run stint helped Harmanpreet take the game deep. A few prolonged umpire reviews only delayed the inevitable.
Earlier, Tahlia McGrath opted to bat, hoping to put India under the pump with the tough task of chasing on a low and slow surface.
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A usually trigger happy Grace Harris – elevated in place of Healy – had to switch gears and build her innings brick by brick after losing Beth Mooney and Georgia Wareham off two consecutive balls in the third over.
Skipper McGrath, who has batted just once in the group stage, promoted herself to consolidate the innings with Harris. The Indian fielding effort repaid the generosity their opponents showed in allowing for a swap between Asha Sobhana and Radha Yadav by giving Harris and McGrath a number of lifelines in the field.
Radha removed McGrath in her first over on the second try - after the first was shelled by captain Harmanpreet. Harris was sent back by Deepti – her WPL franchise teammate – with Smriti quick to react at short mid-on.
But this Australian batting line-up is an assembly line. One big gun follows another, with batting down to the tail. Ellyse Perry 23-ball 32 was paired by a late surge from Phoebe Litchfield to take Australia to an above par 151.
Litchfield survived a leg before dismissal which had convinced Sue Redfern to raise her finger. The left-hander turned for the switch hit and copped the ball on the pad.
The third umpire, Jacqueline Williams, puzzlingly deemed the ball was pitched outside leg giving the Australian a reprieve. Her 9-ball 15 proved vital in eventually putting on a score that was just beyond the reach of the Indians.
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