Despite all the odds, India did the unthinkable by defeating Australia in the semi-finals of the ongoing Women’s World Cup. The hosts felt the pressure throughout the match, but thanks to brilliant innings from Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur, India achieved the biggest target in women’s ODI history. Batting first, Australian opener Phoebe Litchfield caught everyone’s attention with her explosive batting. The 22-year-old scored 119 runs from 93 balls, which was also well supported by experienced all-rounder Ellyse Perry, who scored 77 runs. The two made an important partnership of 155 runs, which put immense pressure on the Indian bowlers. After both of them were out, Ashley Gardner took over the innings and scored 63 runs in 45 balls.
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Gardner showed no rush in starting her innings, but once she found her rhythm, the all-rounder proved to be a very strong batsman. She hit four fours and four sixes, but was eventually out due to a misunderstanding with Kim Garth. Nevertheless, thanks to his innings, Australia scored a huge score of 338 runs in the first innings. Meanwhile, Deepti Sharma and Sri Charani took two wickets each for India. Chasing the target, Shafali Verma showed some courage early on, but could not capitalize on it as the opener was out after scoring 10 runs. Smriti Mandhana started well, but was out after scoring 24 runs on an unfortunate ball from Kim Garth. At one time India was in trouble at 59/2, but now a ray of hope was visible.
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Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet had a good hold while chasing the target by making a partnership of 167 runs. Due to the high pressure, it took time for both to settle down, but once they got into the rhythm, Australia also felt the pressure. Their fielding also remained under question as the visiting team missed many chances in the middle. Meanwhile, after scoring a half-century, Harmanpreet picked up good pace and was out after scoring 89 runs.