Women’s World Cup: Costly Final Overs Blamed for India’s Defeat

Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of the Indian Women’s cricket team, has attributed their recent Women’s World Cup defeat against Australia to a failure to maximize their scoring in the final six overs of the innings. Despite an exceptional opening partnership of 155 runs between Smriti Mandhana (80) and Pratika Rawal (75), India could not build on the strong platform. They were poised at 198 for one after 30 overs but subsequently lost wickets rapidly, managing only 138 more runs and getting bowled out in the 49th over for 330. This inability to finish strongly, which Kaur described as missing ’30-40 more runs,’ proved to be the difference. Australia, led by Alyssa Healy’s magnificent 142, successfully chased the target in 49 overs. Kaur lamented the lack of support from the lower-order batters who had performed well in previous games. While acknowledging the team’s challenges with their bowling combination in recent matches, she defended their strategy and expressed optimism for a strong comeback in the remainder of the tournament.