India defeated Australia by five wickets in the Women’s World Cup semi-finals on Thursday, October 30, at Navi Mumbai. They chased down a 339-run target in 48.3 overs, thanks to an undefeated century from Jemimah Rodrigues (127* off 134). Harmanpreet Kaur (89 from 88), Deepti Sharma (24 from 17), and Richa Ghosh (26 from 16) all contributed significantly to the hosts’ victory.
Amanjot Kaur also contributed with her all-round performance. She took the key wicket of Phoebe Litchfield (119 off 93) in the 28th over, ending a 155-run stand with Ellyse Perry. Amanjot scored a critical 15 from eight balls, leading her team to victory.
Amanjot explained that her strategy for bowling to Litchfield was to connect a few dots by sending balls at the stumps. The all-rounder expected the in-form batsman to attempt something different if she could prevent her from scoring freely.
“I was trying to contain as much as possible, and Litchfield is a very aggressive batter, and I knew that with a few dot balls she would try to do something different. It was just a basic plan of bowling at the stumps,” said Amanjot after the match.
The 25-year-old also acknowledged that India had set a goal of approximately 380 runs, but once they took Litchfield’s wicket, Australia was unable to finish strongly.
“We were expecting a target around 380 because the wicket was very good. But with the dismissal of Litchfield, the game moved in our favour and from there and we did not leak a lot of runs and Charani bowled a very good spell according to the wicket,” Amanjot explained.
I asked her if I should charge against the bowlers: Amanjot
When Amanjot stepped out to bat, India needed 29 runs in the final four overs with five wickets remaining. Jemimah was on 113 from 127 balls at the moment. Amanjot stated that she asked the set hitter how she should approach the inning. The former inquired whether she should play the aggressor’s position, but Jemimah stated that they run well between the sticks and should lead their team home.
“She (Jemimah) was (at the crease in) in the second over and it is a huge thing to stay till the end in this heat and humidity. She did not give up, she kept on fighting and she needed someone to be there with her,” Amanjot said.
“I asked her if I should charge against the bowlers. She said because we run between the wickets well, we will be able to see it through. She asked me to have a look at the wicket and when I faced the first delivery, I thought what a beautiful track it was. Then we decided to finish it off with one over remaining,” she added.
Amanjot said overcoming Australia was a distinct feeling and that the entire squad is hungry to win the trophy.
“It was very important because it is such a big tournament, and a few matches had not gone our way and it is of course a different feeling to beat Australia,” she said.
” (and) who doesn’t want to win the World Cup? Harmanpreet (Kaur) wants it, Smriti (Mandhana) wants it. The whole of India wants it, and we will give everything (to win it). There will be a different champion this time as both the teams (India and South Africa) haven’t won the trophy. Our mindset as a team is to help each other, back each other. We do not think much about the result,” Amanjot concluded.
