After the Indian skipper referred to Harmanpreet Kaur’s dismissal in the semifinal as “unlucky,” Australian wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy took a dig at the Indian skipper. If Kaur had actually made an attempt, Healy claimed she could have easily past the crease.
In an interview with ABC Sport, Healy commented, “Harmanpreet can say all she likes that it was so unlucky, but I mean at the end of the day she cruised back and probably could have been passed the crease, you know, an extra two meters if she genuinely put in the effort. So, we’ll take it.”
“You could say you’re unlucky all your life, but it’s generally about effort and energy at that moment in time. And I know that’s something we speak about in the field in particular is putting in that effort and putting in that energy,” the Australian opener added as she could not hold back herself from delivering punches on the talk.
Healy further added, “I think that comes back to running between wickets as well. It’s doing those little basics better than the opposition and that’s how you win big tournaments. And I feel like we’ve been doing that quite well.”
India was in a flurry as Kaur was destroying the Australian bowlers for glee as they attempted to chase down a record total of 173 to guarantee their place in the T20 World Cup finals.
At the half-century mark, it appeared inevitable that Kaur would lead India to victory. After slog-sweeping the ball to the deep square area, Kaur attempted to complete the second run, but her bat got jammed in the ground just inches outside the crease.
Healy made sure to flip the bails while appealing to the umpire while standing on the stumps. India missed the target by a gut – wrenching five runs as the skipper’s dismissal alone altered the game’s dynamic.
Post the match, Kaur quoted, “Can’t feel unluckier than this! Everything was going in favour of us, but then came my run out. If my bat didn’t get stuck, that run would have easily happened. If I had stayed till the last moment, the game would have finished an over before given the momentum we had.”
“But even after that, Deepti Sharma was there, Richa Ghosh was there. I had belief that they could get the job done. If you have seen the matches till now, Richa had batted brilliantly. But after my dismissal, there were seven or eight dot balls and that was the turning point of the match. Otherwise, we had good momentum and things were going well,” she noted further.
Nasser Hussain, the former England captain, also criticized Harmanpreet’s gaffe and called it a “school-girl error.” The India captain responded, saying, “I think it was unlucky, but I don’t think it was a mistake by a schoolgirl because we are mature enough. We are playing international cricket and whatever he said, that’s his way of thinking. But I don’t think it was like that.”
