Women’s T20 WC: Harmanpreet’s fifty in vain as Australia beat India to reach semis
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur's unbeaten 54* went in vain as Australia beat India by nine runs in Group A match to reach Women's T20 World Cup semi-finals on Sunday.
India have already qualified for the semifinal of the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup with a league match yet to be played but skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has assured that they will not take it lightly and there will be no sign of complacency.
After registering back-to-back victories against Australia, Bangladesh and New Zealand, the Women in Blue will next face Sri Lanka at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Saturday in what will be a dead rubber from India’s perspective.
“I know we have qualified, but the next game is still crucial for us. We will be taking Sri Lanka very seriously. They have been doing well,” Harmanpreet was quoted as saying by ICC.
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Meanwhile, Sri Lanka have endured harsh fate and are yet to register a win in this year’s quadrennial event. They came close to defeating defending champions Australia in their second game but finished three runs shy of the home team’s total.
Harmanpreet, though, is not ready to undermine the islanders and said, “I know they have not won a game but they were almost there on both occasions. We will be taking it very seriously before we start thinking about the semi-finals.”
In their last match against New Zealand, India rode on the blistering performance of Shafali Verma to outrun New Zealand in a thrilling encounter.
Verma’s blitzkrieg knock at the top helped India post a commendable total of 133 in their third league match of this year’s multi-nation tournament.
In their reply, the White Ferns found themselves reeling at 34 for 3 in 8.1 overs with skipper Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates back to the hut. However, Maddy Green (24) and Katey Martin (25) took the Kiwis out of hot waters.
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