There couldn’t have been a more fitting finale to the women’s T20 cricket event of the Commonwealth Games
For the Indian fans, an overwhelming majority in the crowd that turned up at the Edgbaston Stadium, it may have brought back unpleasant memories of the 2017 women’s World Cup final between India and England when the Women In Blue shockingly went down to the host by nine runs at Lord’s.
On Sunday, the margin of defeat was similar as skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s 65 (43b, 7×4, 2×6) went in vain against Australia. The Indian women had to settle for silver in their maiden CWG cricket campaign.
India appeared to be on course for a shock victory when they were 118-2 in the 15th over but a clatter of wickets slowed their charge. They still found boundaries to keep them in the hunt and reached the final over with 11 runs needed and two wickets in hand. But Meghna Singh was run out off the second ball and Yastika Bhatia was trapped lbw the following ball.
Victory underlines the dominance of Australia’s women, who are also world champions in the 20-over and 50-over formats.
