Women’s T20WC: Harmanpreet Kaur rewrites history with valiant display against Australia

New Delhi [India], October 14 (ANI): India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur etched her name in the history book following her valiant effort to end Australia’s unbeaten streak in the Women’s T20 World Cup.

In a gruelling 152-run chase, Harmanpreet strived hard to inspire India to victory in front of a sold-out crowd in Sharjah.

In a high-octane affair, the seasoned star slammed an unbeaten 54 off 47 deliveries, which eventually went in vain as India succumbed to a narrow defeat.

Following her valiant effort, Harmanpreet became the joint-highest run-scorer for India in the Women’s T20 World Cup with a whopping tally of 726.

After riding high on her swaggering display, she stands level with the iconic Mithali Raj as the joint-leading run-getter in the marquee event for India.

This wasn’t the only record that Harmanpreet went level with Mithali. The 35-year-old veteran tonked her fifth half-century in the Women’s T20 World Cup. She stands level with the former captain for scoring the most fifties in the competition for India.

Despite Harmanpreet’s efforts, it was Australia that kept its win streak intact by putting India’s chances of featuring in the semi-finals in jeopardy.

In an enticing affair, a brilliant final over by Annabel Sutherland sealed the deal for Australia as India fell just nine runs short of taking a step closer to the final four stage of the competition.

Harmanpreet injected acceleration to revive India’s chase, especially when the boundaries dried up. She picked out holes in Australia’s field to pile up runs on the board, which kept India in the hunt.

After scoring just 19 runs in 25 deliveries at a strike rate of 76, she changed the complexion of the entire match by slamming 35 runs in the next 22 deliveries that she faced, striking at 159.09.

With 14 needed in the final over, she found herself at the non-striker’s end for the majority of the deliveries, which hindered India’s chances of getting across the finish line.