The India women's cricket team are one win away from winning gold at their maiden Commonwealth Games 2022 as they defeated hosts England by four runs in a thrilling semifinal tie at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground on Saturday. In a humdinger that boiled down to the last over, India's Sneh Rana defended 13 off the last over to send her team through to the final.
The turning point of the game though took place in the penultimate over, when England captain Natalie Sciver, coming back for a risky second, was run out. Sciver was the set England batter having scored 40 off 43 balls, but in a bid to take matters into her own hands, called for a run that just wasn't there. This was after Sciver had smashed a six and managed four leg byes off the previous two balls to bring the equation down to 14 off 7. But the run out proved to be the beginning of the end for England, who will now play for bronze.
India's platform was set up by their star batter Smriti Mandhana, who rocketed to a half-century off just 23 balls, the fastest by an India batter in women's cricket. After Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bat, Mandhana and Shafali Varma got India off the blocks and provided a brisk start, racing away to 64 in the Powerplay, Mandhana being the aggressor.
Varma was the first Indian wicket to fall, and although Harmanpreet and Deepti Sharma got starts scoring 20 off 20 and 22 off 20 respectively, it was Jemimah Rodrigues' innings of 44 that gave India the impetus it needed towards the end. With Mandhana falling in the 9th over after scoring 61 off 32 balls with eight boundaries and three sixes, Rodrigues hit seven fours in 31 balls that helped India cross the 150-run margin and set a challenging total.
{{/usCountry}}Varma was the first Indian wicket to fall, and although Harmanpreet and Deepti Sharma got starts scoring 20 off 20 and 22 off 20 respectively, it was Jemimah Rodrigues' innings of 44 that gave India the impetus it needed towards the end. With Mandhana falling in the 9th over after scoring 61 off 32 balls with eight boundaries and three sixes, Rodrigues hit seven fours in 31 balls that helped India cross the 150-run margin and set a challenging total.
{{/usCountry}}Like India, England women began their innings briskly, with Danielle Wyatt scoring 35 off 27 before Rana dismissed her and Deepti Sharma trapping Sophia Dunkley LBW opened the gates. Sciver and Amy Jones threatened to take the game away from India stitching a 54-run partnership for the fourth wicket, but it was the first of the three run-outs that provided India the breakthrough, and allowed India to mount pressure.
England had an outside chance as long as Sciver was out there, but once Taniya Bhatia’s bullet throw from the deep sent the England captain back, it was India's game. In the last over, with 13 needed off 3, substitute Harleen Deol dropped a sitter a long on, but after Rana gave away just a single off the penultimate over, Sophie Ecclestone's six off the last ball did nothing but reduce the margin of defeat.