India’s Harmanpreet Kaur’s majestic unbeaten 171 from 115 balls in the Women’s World Cup semi-final against Australia at Derby was roundly hailed as one of the greatest of all time. The hard-hitting batter, said that she backed her abilities to clear the boundary ropes, even if it meant that wickets fell at the other end.
“Whatever happened, even if we were one wicket down, or two, or three, I wouldn’t let it interrupt my batting flow, I wouldn’t get tensed, because we can bat deep. That was all I was thinking, that if I get a chance to hit boundaries, I would continue that,” Kaur said.
After pounding the formidable Australian bowling attack all around the park, Kaur didn’t take the field as her side defeated the reigning champions by 36 runs. For most batters, two early wickets would push them into adopting a conservative approach at the crease.
The 28-year-old, though, took on the opposition attack to smoke seven sixes and 20 fours during her thrill-a-minute display. She said: “I was enjoying it. I like taking singles and doubles, but boundaries give me confidence. So when I got the fours and sixes, it was building my confidence and I was feeling good.”
For the Moga-born all-rounder had only 137 runs under her belt in the previous seven games, and on most games in the tournament, impressed more with her tidy bowling, making crucial breakthroughs with her sliddy off-spin. Not surprisingly, Kaur rated the knock as the best in her career, “Of course that was the best innings I have ever played. It was my best ODI score and I really enjoyed it,” Kaur said.
For atleast a handful for the Australians, Kaur’s exploits wouldn’t have come as a surprise after watching her wallop the ball with some ease while playing for Sydney Thunder in the 2016-’17 Big Bash League.
Kaur will turn out for Surrey Stars in the upcoming Super League in England. India’s Twenty20 skipper smashed her last 71 runs in just 25 balls. She said it was a case of cashing in on the rhythm that she had built during the early part of the innings, “I hadn’t planned for it. I had thought when I got a chance to bat that I should go with a particular approach for runs,” she said.
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