Vishesh Roy
Christchurch, March 28, 2022
Team India bowed out of the ICC Women’s World Cup after suffering a three-wicket loss against South Africa on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch.
Mithali Raj-led India fought like brave hearts, but in the end, it was not enough as South Africa held their nerves to get over the finishing line. At one stage, the equation was in favour of India in the final over of the game, but a decisive no-ball cost India big time, and in the end, the side was knocked out of the tournament.
No-balls don’t work
In the final over, South Africa required seven runs with Mignon du Preez and Shabnim Ismail at the crease. Eventually, the equation was three off two balls and on the penultimate delivery, Du Preez was dismissed by Deepti but replays showed that Deepti had overstepped.
Eventually, South Africa won the match by three wickets.
At the virtual press conference, talking about the final-over no-ball, Mithali said: ”Somewhere these no-balls have not been working in India’s favour. I remember the game against Australia; there also it was in the last over. But I guess that having Deepti as a batter and even as a bowler, she did not play in the last few ODIs but the way she bowled today was exceptional.”
Mithali said that Deepti brought all her experience of playing in India and overseas.
“Jhulan Goswami gets a lot of experience in the bowling department, but not having her and bringing in Deepti, the way she bowls in the limited-overs format. She had clarity of how to bowl in the final over,” she said.
No emotions now
When asked about her emotions after being knocked out of the tournament, Mithali said: “Honestly, right now I do not have any emotions. I am just trying to get the hang of how the match went through. I am preparing myself to answer your questions. Probably it will hit me tomorrow, at some time we will have to deal with the disappointment. It is a process; it will take time,” she said.
In the end, Mignon du Preez remained unbeaten on 52 for South Africa as she guided her side over the line by three wickets. Laura Wolvaardt also played a knock of 80. For India, Rajeshwari Gayakwad returned with two wickets.
Earlier, India had posted 274/7 in the allotted 50 overs after Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj all registered half-centuries.
Australia, South Africa, England and West Indies are the four teams that have qualified for the semi-finals of the ongoing tournament. Australia will square off against West Indies on March 30, 2022, while South Africa will take on England on March 31, 2022.
Vishesh Roy is Sports Sub-Editor at NDTV, Delhi. The above article appeared on ICC Website.
Former Cricket player Virender Sehwag writes:
The Indian women’s cricket team crashed out of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 after narrowly losing their final league match to South Africa at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Sunday, March 27, 2022.
Mithali Raj and her team needed to win the last match to qualify for the semi-finals.
The closely-fought match went down to the wire and in the end, a no-ball on the penultimate delivery of the last over by spinner Deepti Sharma cost the team dear.
South African mainstay Mignon du Preeze was caught in the deep as her team needed three runs off two balls, but the delivery was adjudged to be a no-ball and that brought the equation down to two runs off two balls and du Preeze eventually won the match for her team.
Had that not been the case, South Africa would have needed three runs to win off just one ball with two lower-order batters in the middle and India would have been in the driver’s seat for a place in the semis.
Vagaries of Cricket
It was not to be for the Indian women’s team and former Indian men’s team opener Virender Sehwag summed up the situation with a tweet, that focused on the vagaries of the sport.
It was not just the no-ball that cost India the game but sometimes an inch costs moments that takes decades to achieve and are possibly once in a lifetime achievement for many players. It was a disappointing end to India’s campaign.
Note: Sehwag used photos of four no-balls in his tweet, which included the one bowled by Deepti Sharma, which was just an inch away from being a legitimate delivery. It also had the image of Jasprit Bumrah’s no-ball from the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final against Pakistan as it had given a reprieve to Fakhar Zaman, who went on to score a match-defining century as India lost to Pakistan.
The Indian women’s team was in with a chance to qualify for the semis but the tournament was a rather disappointing one for them as they lost to the top sides Australia, England and New Zealand, before going down to South Africa.
