India made it to the final of a World Cup for only the second time in the tournament’s history. Australia missed the final of a World Cup for only the third time in the tournament’s history.
It is a classic underdog trumping the favourites in an extraordinary display – a story loved by sports fans. But this victory to reach the World Cup final at Lord’s means so much more to Indian cricket than a beloved story. It will go down as legend.
Imagine the situation: A World Cup semi-final, only their second. Against defending champions Australia, who have won it six times. A rain-curtailed match. The first two wickets have fallen for only 35 in under 10 overs.
On most days, the team would begin lose steam. The batters would clamp down, the runs would dry, wickets would fall, pressure would mount. In fact, something similar already happened in the league match between the two, India were under early pressure and a sluggish partnership and batting collapse later, Australia cruised to an untroubled eight-wicket win.
But not on Saturday at the County Ground in Derby. India’s performance in the must-win clash against New Zealand should have been a clue; this team can hit back when their backs are against the wall.
They have shown before that they don’t buckle easily – they won the ICC World Cup Qualifier Final against South Africa back in February by 1 wicket (Another Harmanpreet Kaur special). They stunned hosts and now finalists England in their first match of this World Cup. They made it to the semi-final on the back of a resounding win over the White Ferns.
But none of it counts against the World No 1 team. As has often been said, it takes an extraordinarily special effort to beat Australia. This is a team that has won everything women’s cricket has to offer. This is a team led by the leading batter in the game, Meg Lanning. This is a team that decimated Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the group stages, after Chamari Athapaththu had blasted an unbeaten 178.
To knock them out of a World Cup they are favourites to win, it would take more than brilliant individual effort, a collective, superlative performance was required. And India did just that. The foundation of the win was set up by the Harmanpreet Kaur’s awe-inspiring 171 not out – an innings that is comfortably the greatest we have seen by an Indian in World Cup, man or woman. But as the record-breaker said after the match, her innings was only worth it, because the rest of team played their parts.
As Harmanpreet fired on all cylinders and more, Deepti Sharma played the perfect foil to her from the other end, stitching together a partnership of 137-run partnership. Before that, Mithali Raj gambled at the toss, choosing to bat first despite the rain. When Smriti Mandhana and Punam Raut fell early, the captain played a consolidating, but not overly cautious innings of 36. To put Australia’s defence on the backfoot right at the outset, Shikha Pandey swung a stunner to break the prolific opening partnership and then Jhulan Goswami bowled an absolute gem to leave Lanning clean bowled on a duck and reduce them to 9/2 in under five overs.
Yet, even as the never-say-die spirit of the Aussies brought them close, even when Ellyse Perry and Elyse Vilani smashed a partnership of 106, and even when Alex Blackwell put up a rear guard resistance with a superb 56-ball 90, India held their nerve. In a way, India outplayed Australia by outdoing the famed Aussie brand of resilience. On the day, India played like world champions – the very mentality captain Raj had asked them to instill after the last loss to Australia.
To understand the magnitude of the win, sample this: reaching the final was not even in the picture when the team left for England. Raj wanted to take it one step at a time. “It’s a long tour and I want the girls to take it one match a time. Our first step definitely would be to get into the semis,” she had said. Harmanpreet reiterated the same, “When we started in Bombay, we wanted to reach the semi-final, then reach the final.” The final at the iconic Lord’s Stadium was too ambitious to even think off – India beating the Top Three of England, New Zealand and Australia in one tournament? You had to be either overly optimistic or fiercely passionate.
This Indian team falls in the latter category, an intensely passionate unit which is ready to give it all on the field and has the talent and temperament to both win big and bounce back from big losses. This team is playing a brand of cricket rarely seen before, a brand captain Raj she wanted to show the world in England. And she can be sure that the world is watching.
A World Cup final at Lord’s is the stuff of legend, as Raj herself said at the post-match interview. The closest India have come to the trophy is when they finished as runners-up in 2005, losing the final to Australia. Then, it was a young Mithali Raj who scored 91 in the semifinal to storm into the title clash. Twelve years later, it is a vastly different team, led by the same, resilient, record-breaking Raj.
“It seems like it’s going back to 2005, and I am just too happy that the girls have given us an opportunity to be a part of World Cup finals again,” Raj said after the semifinal win. “We definitely want to win the World Cup, it will be a revolution for Indian women’s cricket here,” Raj said before leaving for the World Cup.
No matter the end result, reaching the finals in a World Cup televised live across India has already sparked the revolution she spoke of. Come Sunday, India will watch the national team take on England at the Home of Cricket for the biggest trophy in the game. It is a moment the country has never seen before. It is a moment that will change women’s cricket in India.
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!