India captain Harmanpreet Kaur was at a loss for words after her team stormed into the Women’s ODI World Cup final, but she made it clear that the players have already set their sights on the summit clash and are determined to “give their best” against first-timers South Africa.
Jemimah Rodrigues played the innings of her life, smashing an unbeaten century as India chased down a record 339-run target to beat defending champions Australia by five wickets in the semifinal in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
"Very proud. I don't have words how to express myself. Feeling great, this time we have crossed that line which we have been working towards for so many years," Harmanpreet said during the post-match presentation.
"One more game to go. Today, we all played well, happy with the result. But we have already started speaking about the next game, that shows how focussed we are and how keen we are to win the World Cup. Playing in home World Cup is special, and we want to give back to our fans and families. One more game to go and we will give our best."
Chasing the target, Rodrigues anchored the innings brilliantly with an unbeaten 127 off 134 balls, while Harmanpreet struck a fluent 89 off 88 deliveries. The Indian skipper lauded Rodrigues for showing maturity and composure under pressure.
"She (Rodrigues) is someone who always wants to do well for the team. Always very calculative and wants to take responsibility. We always have that trust on her. Both of us had a good time on the pitch. Whenever we were batting, we were complementing each other and calculating," she said.
Harmanpreet and Rodrigues shared a 167-run stand to lay the foundation of the record chase. "Really enjoy batting with her. She is always telling me we got five runs, seven runs, two balls are left. That shows how involved she is. Amazed to see how she was thinking. Lots of credit to her, to hold her nerve and keep batting for the team," she said.
Reflecting on the lessons from India’s narrow four-run defeat against England earlier in the tournament, Harmanpreet said the team had learned to manage crucial overs better.
“That day (against England) we realised we didn’t execute well. We were late by 2-3 overs and could’ve taken risks earlier — that cost us. Today, we wanted to be calculative and finish it before the 50th over,” she said.
Speaking about her conversation with head coach Amol Muzumdar after the win, the skipper said: “We spoke about how all the hard work has paid off. Both of us are proud of this team. We trust that any player can win a match from any situation. We’ve made mistakes, but we’ve kept learning from them."
Australia captain Alyssa Healy admitted her team was thoroughly outplayed by India.
“Good contest in the end. Probably reflecting on that, we did that to ourselves a little bit — probably the first time I have felt that,” Healy said after the match.
“We didn’t finish well with the bat, didn’t bowl that great, and dropped chances in the field. But ultimately, we were outdone in the end,” she added.
Speaking about their total of 338, Healy said Australia believed they were still in the game at the halfway stage.
“We thought we had half-done the job. Left a few runs out there. If we could execute with the ball and take our chances, we were still in the contest. India played really well, held their nerve, and got themselves across the line,” she said.
Praising her teammate Ashleigh Gardner for a strong campaign, Healy said, “Ash had a sensational tournament. Everyone contributed beautifully, that’s why it’s disappointing to stand here right now. We created enough pressure and opportunities but couldn’t capitalise. I’m at fault for that as well... It hurts having this conversation right now after having played such good cricket.”
When asked about her future, Healy said she won’t be part of the next ODI World Cup cycle.
“I won’t be there. That’s the beauty of this next cycle. Really excited for our group — our one-day cricket will shift a little. We did so much right, we’ll learn, grow and get better,” she said.
