India’s style of cricket has been most impressive
This World Cup hasn’t disappointed and I’m not sure my nerve and blood pressure can handle too much more!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like I saw as India beat Australia on Thursday. Without a shadow of a doubt Harmanpreet Kaur’s innings was the best I have ever seen and single-handedly she won the match for her country. There was nothing Australia could have done to stop her. They threw everything they could at her and she whacked it for a four or a six.
I wrote after Chamari Athapaththu smashed 178 from 143 balls against Australia that we’d not see another innings like that in this World Cup, and then Harmanpreet produces an innings bordering on perfection.
You have to put Harmanpreet’s innings into context – it was against Australia, in a semifinal and the pressure those players would have been under to get to a Lord’s final was huge. It’s just incredible what she’s achieved. It was almost chanceless.
I said before this World Cup that it was important for women’s cricket that India did well, but I have to be honest, I hadn’t imagined quite how well that might be. I knew they had the potential to get to the semifinals and upset a couple of teams along the way, but most impressive has been the style of cricket they have produced as they has dealt with pressure.
India have been so impressive and I wasn’t expecting that style of cricket. I’ve kept wondering throughout the tournament whether India would be able to continue to play so well and they have just kept on performing.
We know this is Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami’s last World Cup and no cricketers deserve to play in the final more than those two. They’ve been legends of the game. Mithali is now the leading run scorer and Jhulan is the leading wicket-taker in world cricket. They’ve done so much for their country and I couldn’t be happier to see them bowing out of the World Cup in such a big game.