On this day in 2017: Harmanpreet Kaur’s 171 led India to clinch Final berth in Women’s World Cup

The day 20 July marks a significant day for the India Women’s Cricket Team. It’s been five years since the memorable day when the Mithali Raj-led unit scripted history by crushing Australia in the semi-final of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 at Derby’s County Ground. Though the entire squad displayed a remarkable team effort, Harmanpreet Kaur stole the show by registering a blistering 115-ball 171.

Winning the toss, Raj decided to bat first but couldn’t get the desirable start. The opening pair of  Smriti Mandhana and Punam Raut headed to the pavilion even before the 10th over was completed. After those early dismissals, skipper Raj joined hands with Kaur and took charge of the game. The duo stitched a 66-run stand before Raj left after making 36 runs off 61 deliveries.

However, Kaur held on to the crease and steered the innings quite aggressively. She smashed as many as 20 boundaries and 7 maximums during the explosive show. Riding on her devastating knock, India breached a total of 281 runs with a loss of 4 wickets in 50 overs. Kaur remained unbeaten at 171. She was well assisted by Deepti Sharma (25) and Veda Krishnamurthy (16) in the end.

In reply, Australia Women lost three wickets in the first 8 overs including their skipper Meg Laning who returned to the hut for a golden duck. The Aussie middle order including Ellyse Perry, Elyse Villani and Alex Blackwell tried to reignite the hope. While Perry made a 56-ball 38, Villani added 75 runs to the score sheet. Blackwell enjoyed some good strokes but was sent off by Deepti Sharma for 90 off 56 balls.

After Blackwell, no batter managed to cross the two-digit mark. Sharma’s three-wicket haul and two wickets from both Jhulan Goswami and Sikha Pandey bundled out the Aussies for 245 runs on the board. With the massive 36-run win, India Women got to feature in the Final against England. However, the Women in Blue fell just 9 runs short of lifting the World Cup title.

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