Once again the Indian women’s cricket team suffered a heartbreaking defeat against the England women’s cricket team in the semi-final of the ongoing ICC Women’s World T20 in West Indies.
Just more than a year ago, Indian women’s cricket team lost the 2017 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup final against the hosts England by just 9 runs. Now in the WWT20 semi-final, England women’s cricket team won by eight wickets (with 17 balls remaining) at North Sound.
The Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur decided to bat first after winning the toss but the experienced and leading T20I run-scorer for India Mithali Raj was dropped out from the squad. Openers Taniya Bhatia and Smriti Mandhana provided a good start with the 43-run partnership. But after that opening partnership was broken, India lost their next wickets in regular intervals.
Opener Mandhana played the highest knock of 34 runs while the young Jemimah Rodrigues scored 26 runs. Wicketkeeper Bhatia scored 11 runs and the skipper Kaur scored 16 runs while the other batters failed to reach the double-digit scores as India women’s only managed to score 112 before getting all-out (19.3 overs). Earlier, at one stage, India was batting on 89/2 but they only added 23 runs before losing their last eight wickets.
There were three run-outs in that innings while Heather Knight (3/9) picked up three wickets and Sophie Ecclestone (2/22) and Kirstie Gordon (2/20) claimed two wickets each.
In reply, Indian bowlers dismissed the English openers very early as they went down to 24/2 after Tammy Beaumont (1) and Danielle Wyatt (8) departed very cheaply.
However, the next two batters Amy Jones and Natalie Sciver rescued the team from that difficult situation and carried the team to the comfortable victory. Both completed their half-centuries and had an unbroken 92-run partnership for the third wicket as they reached the target in 17.1 overs after losing only their both openers. Jones remained not out on 53 off 47 balls (3 fours and only six) while Sciver remained unbeaten on 52 off 38 balls (5 fours).
Among the Indian bowlers, only the opening bowlers Deepti Sharma (1/24) and Radha Yadav (1/20) were able to pick up one wicket each.
Here are some Twitter reactions:
Easy to diss the think-tank for not playing Mithali even in the SF….but if the reason is to give priority to role over reputation, Indian cricket has taken a giant leap courtesy its women. #WWT20 #IndvEng
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 23, 2018
A heartbreaking loss for the Indian women last night to crash out of the T 20 world cup, but hey @BCCIWomen you were awesome through the tournament and we are all proud of you.👏
— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) November 23, 2018
India deserve to loose this match.. when u dropped ur best player @M_Raj03 u don't deserve to win.. I respect u girls but it's horrible decision.. politics everywhere… #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/FuCYy8qDaU
— Haider…. (@HaiderSaiyed2) November 23, 2018
Are u kidding me!!! There is no Mithali raj in the semi final!!! Such a harsh decision. #INDvENG @vikrantgupta73 @Ateet_Sharma Is this the r8 decision from team management??
— Debasish singh (@Debasis00128879) November 23, 2018
@ImHarmanpreet girls dont be arrogant in team selection..ridiculous to leave @M_Raj03 out of such an imp clash.
if u say u dnt want to brk winning cmbo then why u did it in prvious one..She was most cnsistent among all batters..yet u all mde tht stupid dcision.#WT20 #IndVEng— The_FouRth_iDiot (@bijendrasinha) November 23, 2018
If you don't pick your best player Mithali Raj in semifinal you deserve to lose. This coach, captain and Taniya Bhatia should be beaten with chappals. They got some money from Chandigarh. Bloody Bastard Cheaters. I will never support indian women cricket in my life. #INDvENG
— Mayanti Langer (@Langer_Mayanti) November 23, 2018
Moral of the story: Experience DOES matter..
Will the same be said in the case of M.S Dhoni's dropping from the t20 side? #INDvENG— Sanchit 🔴⚪️ (@sanchitd43) November 23, 2018
For Dropping @M_Raj03 In Crucial Semi-Finals #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/uiTewjErGX
— Rahul rathi (@Rahul1605550) November 23, 2018
#INDvENG
Drop Mithali Raj and you dropped the World Cup. This is what happens when you start to play god.
If you don't pick your best player Mithali Raj in semifinal you deserve to lose. •she is tailor made for these kind of pitches and has one of the best records against Eng.— Pratiksha Sinha (@ruhisinha00cool) November 23, 2018
