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Harmanpreet Kaur searching for form as Australia wait in Women's T20 World Cup semis
The India skipper has been a shadow of the hard-hitting batter, scoring at better than run-a-ball only in one of the four matches so far in South Africa
India’s narrow win over Ireland under the rain rule in their final Group 2 game sealed their semi-final spot, but they now face the near impossible as champions Australia stand between them and a second straight final in the tournament.
A major worry ahead of Thursday’s clash against the Aussies in Cape Town is the inability of key batters to score fluently with focus on skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. The 33-year-old built her reputation as one of the big-hitters in the women’s game, the most famous knock being the unbeaten 171 off 115 balls that laid low Australia in the semis of the 2017 ODI World Cup.
As another semis awaits, the contrast in Harmanpreet’s current batting approach and form is glaring. Those lusty blows have been absent, and the Ireland game provided the latest evidence of her slump in form. She scored just 13 off 20 balls after promoting herself to No 3 for vital batting time.
But she wasn’t middling the ball and shot selection left a lot to be desired in windy conditions. Though India won, had Ireland taken their catches and rain not ended the game and brought the Duckworth-Lewis method into the picture, the result could have been different.
This tournament, Harmanpreet has aggregated 66 runs in four games, averaging 16.5, with a strike rate of below 80 in three games with only the 12-ball 16 versus Pakistan scored at better than run-a-ball.
After the Ireland game, Harmanpreet raised concerns over the number of dot balls Indian batters were conceding. “Against England, we played too many dot balls,” she said, referring to India’s only defeat in Group 2. A win would have helped top the group and leave England to battle it out with Australia in the semis.
“We’ve already been discussing in team meetings. Dot balls are something which are already worrying us. In the next game, we would love to see improvement in that area also.” Young opener Shafali Verma, known to play big shots, has also been throwing her wicket away, scoring 24 off 29 deliveries against Ireland.
Harmanpreet acknowledged her struggle after the Ireland game.
“Initially I tried a few shots, but unfortunately I wasn't able to convert them into boundaries. Smriti (Mandhana, who hit a career-best 87) told me ‘it is better you give me singles than you taking risks’, and initially that is what we did,” she said after the game in Gqeberha.
In this campaign, only Smriti Mandhana and Richa Ghosh have been consistent. Jemimah Rodrigues hit an unbeaten fifty against Pakistan but hasn’t carried forward the form.
“World Cup games are always something where both the teams are always under pressure. These matches, if 150 is on the board, you always have the upper hand. We are not putting too much pressure on ourselves. We are understanding what conditions are there and just playing according to the situation.”
India bowlers, barring pacer Renuka Thakur, not being at their best has added to the concerns. Main spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad has been off-colour though Deepti Sharma has done reasonably well.
“It is good to get into the semis and we will give our 100%. We always enjoy our match against them. It will be do-or-die and we want to play good cricket,” Harmanpreet said.
