Australia reach seventh straight T20 final after thrilling five-run win over India
Could she bring about a miracle once again? For a while, even with India chasing an intimidating 173, and with her team already 28 for 3 when she arrived at the crease, Harmanpreet looked as if she would manage it. It is not often that Meg Lanning’s Australia look under pressure; but with Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodrigues smashing Ellyse Perry and Jess Jonassen for bags of runs, they felt it. Lanning messed up a straightforward run out with a wayward throw to the wrong end.
It couldn’t last. Harmanpreet slammed back-to-back fours off Georgia Wareham to bring up a 32-ball half-century but two balls later she had to make a mad dash for her ground, only to get her bat stuck in the turf. You could almost forgive the way she threw it away from her in frustration before walking off.Photograph: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Even with Rodrigues already back in the dugout, having top-edged a Brown bouncer behind the stumps, it wasn’t quite over – Richa Ghosh , Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana threw their bats around. But with 20 needed off the final two, and Jonassen and Ash Gardner somehow keeping it tight at the death, India fell an agonising six runs short. So near and yet so far.
And yet India only really had themselves to blame. Beth Mooney’s 54 from 37 balls and Lanning’s unbeaten 49 not out had been the key hands in Australia’s 172 for four, but Lanning was put down byGhosh on one after edging Rana behind the stumps; and was then handed another life on nine, as Ghosh fumbled a stumping attempt.
Key to Australia’s dominance was the nullification of Renuka Singh Thakur – so threatening against them in the Commonwealth Games. Yet here Healy sent the first ball of Renuka’s first over crashing through the off-side for four, then lofted her down the ground in her next.
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