ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023: "Can't Be Unluckier Than This" - Harmanpreet Kaur Responds To India's Heartbreaking Exit From The World Cup Semifinal

When Australia narrowly defeated India in the opening semi-final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Cape Town on Thursday, an emotional Harmanpreet Kaur had to hold back tears at the post-match presentation.  Australia defeated India by 5 runs in the opening semi-final at Newlands to get to their eighth consecutive Women’s T20 World Cup final. In the championship match of the grand event, Australia will take against either England or the hosts South Africa.

Harmanpreet was extremely upset at the post-match presentation as he spoke about India’s tragic loss to Australia. Harmanpreet, who led India’s comeback with power batter Jemimah Rodrigues, was run out in an odd way that ultimately caused the tie in Cape Town to be reversed. Harmanpreet top-scored for the Women in Blue while playing a captain’s knock for India, despite the fact that her valiant batting efforts were in vain.

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Could Have Finished The Match One Over Earlier: Harmanpreet Kaur

“Can’t be unluckier than this, to get that momentum back when me and Jemi were batting. And to lose after that, we didn’t expect this today. The way I got run-out, can’t be unluckier than that. Putting in the effort was more important. We discussed about fighting till the last ball. The result didn’t go our way, but I am happy with the way we played in this tournament,” Harmanpreet Kaur said after India bowed out of the T20 World Cup in the semi-finals.

In response to a question on her unlucky run-out, Harmanpreet Kaur stated India might have won the game an over earlier if her bat hadn’t become trapped on the wicket.

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“I think if my bat didn’t get stuck and I would’ve easily finished that run, I think if I had stayed till the last moment, we could have definitely finished the match one over earlier as we had the momentum. But even after that, you know, Deepti was there, Richa was there.

I had a self-belief that they can do it too because Richa has also batted well in all the matches till now. But I think after I got out, we played 7-8 dot balls in the middle and the match turned there. Otherwise, we had a good momentum and the match was going well,” she said.

Harmanpreet Kaur Lauds Jemimah Rodrigues

India was reduced to 28-3 while chasing Australia’s 172-4 in the 20-over match before Harmanpreet and Rodrigues put up a fight for the Ladies In Blue. Rodrigues contributed with a wonderful 43 off 24 balls, while Harmanpreet played a magnificent 52 off 34 balls.

The Asian giants lost the semi-final game by 5 runs as Harmanpreet Kaur and company could only produce 10 runs with 16 needed off the final over. The Player of the Match was Ashleigh Gardner, who took two wickets and scored 31 runs off of 18 balls.

“We know we have a good batting lineup even if we lose early wickets. Need to give credit to Jemi for the way she batted today. She got us the momentum we were looking for. Happy to see such performances. Happy to see them play their natural game.

Even though we didn’t play to our strengths, we reached the semis. We gave those easy catches away. Got to take those when you want to win. We misfielded. We can only learn from these lessons and not repeat the mistakes,” Harmanpreet Kaur added.

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