Indian women’s cricket team faced Australia in the finals of the Commonwealth Games 2022. In what could have been an easy win, the Indian team fell short of the target by 9 runs. The Australian bowlers were too good in the final two overs of the second innings to let the match go away.
Former India skipper Mohammed Azharuddin took it to Twitter to express his displeasure. “Rubbish batting by the Indian team. No common sense. Gave away a winning game on a platter,” Azharuddin tweeted. The tweet went viral straight away.
Rubbish batting by the Indian team. No common sense. Gave away a winning game on a platter. #INDvsAUS #WomensCricket #CWG22
— Mohammed Azharuddin (@azharflicks) August 7, 2022
Australia shines to defeat India by 9 runs
Australian women’s cricket team skipper Meg Lanning decided to bat first after winning the toss. The Australian team lost three wickets for eighty-seven runs after 11.1 overs. Beth Mooney top scored for Australia with 61 runs off 41 balls. Meg Lanning played a quickfire innings to take Australia to 161 off 20 overs. Ashleigh Gardner’s 25 runs towards the end of the innings ensured Australia did not go off track.
Indian women looked confident while chasing the target albeit they lost both the openers within the first three overs. Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur then toiled hard to steady the Indian innings. The Indian skipper managed to score a superb 65 off 43 balls comprising of seven 4s and two 6s.
Rodrigues made a run-a-ball thirty-three comprising of three 4s. The Indian innings fell apart once Kaur and Rodrigues perished. Yastika Bhatia did not last long in the end and the brigade was bowled out for 152 runs with three balls to spare.
“You just have to look how many people came out and watched every single game even when England wasn’t playing. It was amazing to see people just supporting women’s cricket. I guess that was the best thing about this whole event was growing the game globally,” Ashleigh Gardner said after the match.
Indian women’s cricket team ended up bagging silver at the Commonwealth Games 2022. Australia has made history by winning the gold medal as this is the first time women’s cricket is involved in Commonwealth Games 2022.
