Team India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur pulled on par with legendary batter Mithali Raj for the most number of runs scored by an Indian at the ICC T20 World Cup with her fighting half-century against Australia on Sunday.
Harmanpreet stood unbeaten at 54 runs against the Aussies at Sharjah despite India’s defeat by 9 runs, to take her run tally to 726 runs, thus levelling the former Indian opener Mithali.
Star batter Smriti Mandhana has amassed 524 runs at the showpiece and stands behind the duo of Harmanpreet and Mithali, while Jemimah Rodrigues follows with 404 runs off her willow. Former batter Punam Raut tallies 375 runs at the T20 spectacle.
Mandhana and Rodrigues could only make 6 and 16 runs respectively on Sunday though as India could only manage a score of 142/9 in reply to Australia’s 151/8 earlier in the evening.
The Aussies sealed their berth in the semis with the win, however, left India in a tricky spot in terms of qualification.
India need a helping hand from Pakistan, as the women in blue could move into the knockouts if the neighbours manage to get the better of New Zealand in a game that could determine the fortunes of the Indian contingent in UAE.
Australian skipper Tahlia McGrath opted to bat first against Harmanpreet and Co. and helped her side with a 32-run knock. Opener Grace Harris top-scored for the Aussie women with a 41-ball-40-run innings, while star all-rounder Ellyse Perry also made a sizeable contribution of 32 runs.
Renuka Thakur, who struck in consecutive deliveries early in the game had India’s best bowling figures with 2/24, with Deepthi Sharma also scalping a couple of wickets.
Harmanpreet’s lone ranger innings went in vain with the next highest run-getter for India on the day, Deepthi, making 29 runs and 20 runs coming from opener Shafali Verma.
Anabel Sutherland and Sophie Molineux picked up a couple of wickets each to destabilise the Indian chase, while Megan Schutt added a wicket to her account in her side’s victory.
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