Updated: 8 August 2022
Commonwealth Games 2022: Indian Women’s Cricket Team Win Silver Medal In First Ever CWG Final. There were a lot of expectations from the Indian women’s cricket team as they reached the final of the inaugural women’s cricket in the commonwealth games 2022. But, they succumbed to pressure once again and lost to Australia by 9 runs at Edgbaston, ending their commonwealth games campaign in the second position.
With this performance, the women in blue won the silver medal. This is the same margin by which India lost the 2017 world cup final match against England. A captain’s knock by Harmanpreet Kaur and some excellent fielding display were not enough for them, as Australia again showed their dominance.
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Australian women’s team have now won all the major trophies such as the 50 overs world cup, the t20 world cup, and this commonwealth games gold medal.
Chasing a target of 162 to win the gold medal trophy match, the Indian women had a poor start, as they lost two of their main batters, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, inside the first 3 years.
The onus was on Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues. They steadied the ship and lashed onto the bad bowls, scoring runs freely. The duo had a good partnership of 96 runs.
It seemed as if India would run away with the game, but a lapse in concentration by Jemimah Rodrigues opened the floodgates for India. She departed after scoring a run-a-ball 33.
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They once again lost momentum. Pooja Vastrakar came and perished in no time. The biggest setback was when captain Harmanpreet Kaur was caught behind while trying to play a sweep shot. The captain played a handy knock of 65 runs of 43 balls.
From there on, despite coming neck and neck, India couldn’t get over the line, as they lost their last eight wickets for 34 runs. India’s last five wickets fell for just 13 runs, with Ashleigh Gardner taking 3/16.
Earlier in the first inning, Australia won the toss and decided to bat in the gold medal match. Their opener Beth Mooney top-scored with 61. It seemed as if Australia was headed for a 180+ score, but a terrific fightback from India in the last five overs saw Australia finishing at 161/8.
Apart from the 74-run stand between Beth and captain Meg Lanning, the women in yellow weren’t allowed to break free as India conceded only 36 runs in the last five overs, including five scalps. Indian fielders were splendid, making tight stops, taking brilliant catches, and also effected run-outs at crucial stages.
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Renuka Thakur and Sneh Rana took two wickets each and put breaks on the run rate. At the same time, Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav had a wicket.
This is the third consecutive loss in the finals by the Indian women’s cricket team. Although they walked away with the silver medal, they will still be heartbroken by the fact that they had a golden opportunity to convert this into gold.
