WHEN HISTORY WAS MADE
Although India’s women’s cricket team lost the 2017 World Cup final against England, their landmark win against Australia in the semi-final, on 20 July, heralded a new era for female cricketers. Karunya Keshav and Sidhanta Patnaik tell the story of that m
Aprodigious goal. A fluke shot. A point against the odds. A stroke of luck. An unexpected shower. The Hand of God. Strategic brilliance from the protagonist. A silly error by the opposition.
Sporting history is replete with such moments that elevated what was a good slice of action into moments that defined the sport.
Remember that ball from Balwinder Singh Sandhu to Gordon Greenidge in the 1983 men’s cricket World Cup final at Lord’s? On another day, Greenidge would have tackled the inswinger with ease. But, in a rare moment of misjudgement, he decided to leave the delivery and was bowled. And then came Kapil Dev’s catch of the tournament to send back the mighty Viv Richards. India felled the seemingly invincible West Indians, Kapil lifted the trophy, and a country fell madly, deeply, irrevocably in love with the sport.
20 July 2017, in another World Cup, in another city in England—this time in the semi-final against Australia. A twenty-eight-year-old from Moga, a small town in Punjab, India Women’s jersey No.17, walked out with a serious expression, a clear mind, an aching shoulder and a borrowed bat. The moment, when it came, was unexpected. A no-ball; a free hit; a six! There had been sixes before and there will be sixes again. But never would one of them set the course of a sport so drastically as this one, as an indifferent India, finally, awoke to the possibilities of women’s cricket.
That Thursday, against the six-time champions Australia, Harmanpreet Kaur’s feet are moving well, and she is middling the ball. A good day in the office, but nothing dramatic in the first 60 balls of her innings to suggest this day is in any way special. She and Mithali Raj, the captain, have taken the team to a cautious 70 for 2 in 20 overs. In a rain-affected match, the team wants to set a target of 250.
Indian batting for many years has been about batting around Mithali, who anchors the innings. She is in the middle of a dream run, having scored a century against New Zealand in the previous game and become the all-time leading run scorer in one-day internationals (ODIs) in the one before. She understands the conditions. The longer she bats, the better for India. After the team’s poor performance in the group stage game against the same opponents, Mithali had no time for diplomacy. The younger lot, including her vice captain, had to take more responsibility so she could at long last share the burden, a clearly tired Mithali had said in an explosive press meet a few days earlier.
Harman had shown the beginning of a response in the previous game. Would she step up today? As things turn out, she has little choice. Kristen Beams bowls Mithali