India women at the tipping point
Having toppled Australia in the group stage, India will bid for a repeat against the overwhelming favourites
MELBOURNE: India will have energy to burn when they take on Australia in the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup decider, after their semi-final against England was washed out by rain, captain Harmanpreet Kaur said on Saturday.
Undefeated India head into Sunday’s clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after an eightday break since their last group match against Sri Lanka.
With Thursday’s semi-final in Sydney abandoned without a ball bowled, the long rest period did not go down well with all the Indian players, Kaur said.
“No-one wanted to take rest, everyone was so keen, everyone was on the ground and ready to deal with the situation,” Kaur said at the MCG on Saturday.
“We haven’t been outdoors much and we didn’t manage to play the important game against England.
“We were all in touch and doing indoor training, but it doesn’t give you full confidence because the surface is different.”
First-time finalists India have been a revelation since kicking off their tour six weeks ago with a five-wicket loss to a local selection of ‘B’ players in Sydney, the first match on Australian soil for most of the Indian squad.
But they upset defending champions Australia in the tournament opener at Sydney Showgrounds and have been untroubled since, with 16-year-old sensation Shafali Verma leading from the front with batting firepower.
Opener Verma has scored 161 runs to top India’s batting and leads the tournament with a fierce strike-rate, also of 161.
Kaur backed the stocky, shorthaired teenager to deliver again and not be overawed by the occasion.
“She’s excited, she’s someone who has always enjoyed playing cricket,” Kaur said.
“I’m sure tomorrow again she will have a great time and she will get all the runs that we are expecting from her.”
Victory on Sunday would be the Indian women’s greatest cricket triumph, two-and-a-half years after they lost the final of the 2017 one-day World Cup to England at a sold-out Lord’s.
More than 75,000 tickets have been sold for the final and many will have been snapped up by Melbourne’s big Indian community.
“It’s a great feeling ... We’re really (feeling) positive for that,” Kaur said.
“Rather than thinking about what is going to trouble us (on field), it’s only about being there, enjoying the moment and giving our best.”
Over 75,000 tickets have been sold for the finals and Harmanpreet said her team will look to enjoy the big stage and play positive cricket.
“It’s a great feeling. It’s the first time we’re going to see 90,000 people in the stadium and we’re really looking positive for that,” said Harmanpreet, who has played in front of a sold-out crowd in the 2017 World Cup Final against England at Lord’s.
“We are used to playing when a lot of crowd is around us. Sometimes there’s no noise going around in the stadium so we need to keep an eye on each of us. It’s a big moment.
‘SKIPPER INSPIRED ME’
It was a stinging rebuke from Kaur during the tournament opener against Australia that fired up Poonam Yadav, who played an instrumental role in India’s march to their maiden final.
The 28-year-old has emerged as India’s wrecker-in-chief in tournament with nine wickets, including a four-wicket haul against defending champions Australia in the opening match.
“When I got hit for a six in the first over, she (Harmanpreet) came to me and said, ‘Poonam, you’re one of the most experienced players in the team, and we expect better from you’,” Poonam was quoted by the ICC.
“So, that kind of stirred something within me. I told myself if my captain has that much faith in me, I should make a comeback.
“I took a wicket in the very next ball, and didn’t look back since. Now when I look back at that moment, it means so much in the context of my individual performance and run to the Final,” said the bowler from Agra.
India’s highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket, Poonam had missed the preceding tri-series, involving Australia, due to an injury in her left index finger.
Poonam said she used her time on the sidelines to analyse the weakness of her opponents which came handy during the World Cup.
“I had not even played the triseries, so thanks to the selectors for showing faith in me,” she said.
“When I was on the sidelines, I worked quite hard knowing the quality of competition in the World Cup.
SURGERY FOR PERRY
Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry has been ruled out of action for at least six months as she will undergo surgery on her injured hamstring next week.
It was during Australia final group game of the T20 World Cup against New Zealand that Perry had injured her right hamstring while trying an athletic throw.
“The timing has been good, I still get to come tomorrow and next week I’ll (have surgery),” Perry said.
“From my perspective, I’ve had the most incredible run, I’ve been very fortunate with injury for a long period of time.”