The Indian cricket team arrived in the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final against Australia, with nothing less than a victory in their minds. However, the Indian eves struggled to show the determination they were expected to on the field, producing some sloppy fielding efforts, including multiple catch drops. Seeing Indian players produce a forgettable outing on the field, fans took to social media to vent their frustration, slamming Harmanpreet Kaur and her girls for the ordinary day out on the field.
Beth Mooney emerged as the top-scoring batter for Australia, registering a half-century in 37 balls while the likes of Alyssa Healy (25), and Ashleigh Gardner (31) also contributed at the top. At the end, it was Meg Lanning whose unbeaten 49 took Australia to a solid total of 172/4.
Australia were not as good today as the scorecard reflects.India were sloppy in the field.Let Australia score with ease. Should’ve been 140-150.#CricketTwitter #T20WorldCup #INDvAUS
— Asli BCCI Women (@AsliBCCIWomen) February 23, 2023
Extremely poor and sloppy fielding by the Indian women on field. They easily gave away 15-20 runs and these might be the deciding factor at the end of the match if India loses by the above run margin.
All the best to the Girls 🙂
Let’s go India!! #INDWvsAUSW— Rudransh (@I_Like_Netflix) February 23, 2023
Pretty sloppy fielding from #India today…. 172 is a huge target… But nevertheless our batting is yet to start… Let’s hope for the best… Come on #India… #INDWvsAUSW #ICCWomensT20WorldCup
— SHISHEER (@SHISHEERSP) February 23, 2023
Poor fielding display by India
— Ritwik Saikia (@RitwikSaikia5) February 23, 2023
There was no swing on offer, making life a lot difficult for star pacer Renuka Thakur, whose first ball of the game was a half volley to Alyssa Healy (25 off 26) and she duly put it away.
Healy is usually the aggressor in her opening partnerships with Mooney but it wasn’t the case on this occasion. It was Mooney who got the boundaries more regularly in their 52-run stand as she manoeuvred the field beautifully with her nimble footwork against the spinners. Shafali Verma dropped a regulation catch off Mooney at long on when she was on 32.
Deepti Sharma, India’s most consistent spinner in the tournament, bowled too short in her opening spell. Her second over went for 12 runs as Mooney stepped out for a six over wide long off.
Besides the inconsistent line and length, poor fielding and catching cost India a lot of runs.
Lanning, who was dropped early in her innings, made India pay with an unbeaten 49 off 34 balls. She collected two sixes and a four in the 20th over bowled by Renuka, who went wicketless in her four overs and conceded 41 runs.
Sneh Rana, playing in place of Pooja Vastrakar, was unfortunate not pick any wicket as she troubled the batters with her flight. She could have had Lanning caught behind in her first over but wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh dropped the chance. Richa also fluffed a stumping chance of Lanning.
With PTI inputs
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