After being adjudged the Player of the Match for her brilliant spell in the opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 Cup 2020 against reigning champions Australia, Poonam Yadav revealed that it was not the first time that she missed out on a hat-trick.

Notably, Poonam took four wickets for just  19 runs in her spell. However, at one point in time she was on a hat-trick as she dismissed Rachael Haynes and Ellyse Perry in successive deliveries.

The Player of the Match with her richly deserved award 🤳#TeamIndia | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/9tfB8zLu9V

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— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) February 21, 2020

She even managed to get the outside edge of Jess Jonassen on her hat-trick delivery but the catch was dropped by wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia who otherwise had a brilliant day on the field.

Her match-winning performance must also be viewed in the context of her making a comeback in the international stage after suffering from injuries in the buildup to the tournament. Poonam thanked her physio, doctors and even her teammates to help her regain fitness in time for the world tournament.

“My physio and my teammates supported me a lot when I was injured. I bowled well against Australia here in the past so I wanted to continue that,” she said in the post-match presentation ceremony as quoted by news agency IANS.

“This is the third time that I didn’t get a hat-trick. I am thankful to my teammates as it is not easy to come back after an injury,” she added.

Meanwhile, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was also happy with the team’s performance and highlighted how the win against four-time champions Australia is a sign of India becoming better as a unit.

“Knew this track is something where we can do well,” said Harmanpreet at the post-match presentation ceremony.

“Knew if we’re able to score 140, our bowlers will be able to defend it, and that’s what happened. This track wasn’t easy to bat on. Were just looking to score 140,” she said.

At one stage, India were reduced to 47/3. The duo of Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma then managed to bring India back in the innings. They led the women in Blue’s revival as they stitched together a total of 53 runs for the fourth wicket. Deepti remained unbeaten on 49 runs as he took India to a modest total of 132/4.

“The partnership between Jemi and Deepti got us there. Poonam was going through some injuries but has made a great comeback. That’s what we were expecting. Our team is looking nice. Earlier we were depending on 2-3 players but now we’re doing well as a team. If we do well in the tournament we will definitely win the World Cup,” said Harmanpreet.