On Thursday, Team India rewrote the history books as they became the first women team to reach the finals of the T20 World Cup. In terms of weather, India was the favorites in the semi-final against England. The rain did nothing but increased the disappointment of the English team and their fans but to the absolute ecstasy for Harmanpreet Kaur and her Women in Blue.
The first semi-final was called-off without the toss and by virtue of India being unbeaten in the league stage as they defeated Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand, they reached the final. Earlier, India lost three semi-finals in 2009, 10 and 2018.
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And, so March 08 will be a special day in more than one way for Harmanpreet as it will be the first-ever instance of a captain leading his/her team on her birthday in any ICC World event final [ODI/T20I/U19 CWCs/Champions Trophy].
Harmanpreet Kaur will be leading India in the ICC Women's T20 CWC final on her 31st birthday. (March 8th)
It will be the first-ever instance of a captain leading his/her team on birthday in any ICC World event final [ODI/T20I/U19 CWCs, Champions Trophy]. #ICCT20WorldCup
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) March 5, 2020
India will be facing Australia on Sunday as the te latter defeated South Africa in the second semi-final by 5 runs (D/L method). If the rain gods had played a spoilsport in the second match as well, then the defending champions would’ve been knocked out of the tournament and the Proteas would’ve also reached their maiden finals as they finished Group A undefeated – much like India.
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Unlike the 2019 men’s World Cup, the International Cricket Council (ICC) did not schedule reserve-day for the semi-finals. Last year, reserve day proved to be very useful during the first semi-final between India and New Zealand as persistent rain forced it to be a two-day affair. The rules regarding rain-curtailed fixtures are also different in this tournament.
While a normal rain-curtailed T20I fixture requires a minimum of five overs/side to constitute a match, in this tournament, a minimum of ten overs per team is a prime requisite. That said, reserve day has been added to finals in-case rain gods decided spoil teh excitement of the fans and the players on March 08 at the MCG.
