- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Pramod Thomas
INDIA will play its maiden Women’s T20 World Cup final on International Women’s Day on Sunday after their semi-finals clash against England was washed out on Thursday (5).
An unbeaten run in the group stage propelled India into their march to the finals.
India will meet reigning champions and host Australia in the summit clash on Sunday (8).
England was the runners-up in the previous edition of the tournament.
Persistent rain since morning delayed the toss and eventually the semifinal was called off without a ball being bowled, taking Indians into the summit clash and leaving England players in tears.
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said: “Unfortunate we didn’t get a game, but there are rules and we have to follow it. Having reserve days in the future will be a great idea”.
“Really frustrating. Not how we wanted the World Cup to finish for us. No reserve day, no chance of getting play, and ultimately that loss against South Africa cost us,” a dejected England captain Heather Knight said after the game was abandoned.
Knight said her team paid the price for not starting the tournament well.
India had topped Group A with four victories in as many matches while England had finished second in Group B with three wins and a defeat.
“From day one, we knew we have to win all the games because in case the semis don’t happen, that would be hard for us. In that sense, credit to the team for winning all the games,” said Kaur.
“Everybody is looking in great touch – Shafali (Verma) and Smriti (Mandhana). They are giving us good starts, and that helps. Me and Smriti are trying to spend more time in the nets,” she said.
