Lopsided: Unbeaten Australia out, thrice beaten India in

The Indian women’s team players after their win

India’s women cricketers who just jumped on board as the last team to qualify ended up in the driving seat ahead of Sunday’s Women’s World Cup final after a win against the unbeaten Australia team in the semifinal at Mumbai on Thursday.

India earned their place according to the International Cricket Council (ICC) format at the eight nation event, but there was very little or no justice for unbeaten Australia who picked up 13 points from six wins and a washout game compared to India’s mere seven points from just three wins and three defeats in the run-up to the semifinals.

In the qualifying round Australia played true to their potential as defending champions and were the undisputed favourites to lift the Cup for the eighth time.

It was blatantly apparent that the Indian team was struck down by emotions as their captain Harmanpreet Kaur was shown by television cameras about to breakdown in the dying moments and did likewise when her team reached the 339 target to book a place in the final against South Africa.

Century maker Jemimah Rodrigues kept sobbing at a post-match media briefing which many also thought was unbecoming of a professional of her calibre.

Both Australia and South Africa beat India convincingly in the round robin stage of the tournament and the experts had even before Thursday’s semifinal betted on an Australia-South Africa final as being most appropriate.

More questions are also likely to be raised on the format of the World Cup that will go down in history as one of the most disputed among ICC events.

It is a well-known fact that the Indian Premier League (IPL), although T20 in format, offers the top-placed team two chances of making it to the final where the team plays in the Qualifier and in the event of defeat can have a second go by taking on the team that wins in the Eliminator.

Scores:
Australia 338 in 49.5 overs (Phoebe Litchfield 119, Allyse Perry 77, Ashleigh Gardner 63)
India 341 for 5 in 48.3 (Jemimah Rodrigues 127 not out, Harmanpret Kaur 89)