You cannot mess up the basics like ground fielding and catching against a champion side like Australia and expect to win and predictably, India did most thing wrong on the field and paid for it.
Cape Town: If there were any remote hopes of the Indian Women getting past the Australian in the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals at Newlands in Cape Town on Thursday evening, they were pretty much scotched by possibly one of India’s worst fielding performances in recent times Once Australia had put 172 on the board, thanks to that poor fielding, which put paid to whatever bowling plans were made by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. You cannot mess up the basics like ground fielding and catching against a champion side like Australia and expect to win and predictably, India did most thing wrong on the field and paid for it. Jemimah Rodrigues’ heroics with the bat did give India some hope but they had left themselves too much to do by the end of it all.
What was the most galling thing about this was that India could have won this, if the fielding was even 20 per cent better. In the end, the gap was so agonisingly small, something that even a few runs saved in the field, or catches taken, could have changed.
It could well be that India had gone in with a bowling plan. After all, Australia have not played a competitive match at Newlands in the World Cup and the square is tired after extended use. This was possibly the best opportunity to put one across the champions.
But the plan wasn’t ever executed well. Right from Ball One, the width that the Aussie batters got saw runs accrue and none of that was helped by the incredibly pedestrian close-in fielding.
Nine out of 10 hits eluded the fielders inside the square and the 30-yard circle and even the deep fielding was laboured at best. Barring Rodrigues in the deep, not one looked inclined, or fit enough, to beat the ball to the fence.
It is pretty evident from the effort that fielding is not the most favourite thing for this team and also that the coaching staff isn’t cracking the whip enough on that.
Compare that to the Australian slow bowling to the Indian openers, and their close-in fielding, and the difference is telling. Two dropped catches and one missed stumping added to the overall mayhem as all plans went up in smoke.
As for the batting, Australia did brilliantly to deny Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma any width and the results were immediate. Yastika Bhatia fell victim to the difference in fielding and things looked bleak with less than four overs bowled.
Once again, it was Rodrigues who was the hero. She kept India in the battle till the halfway stage of the inning but little beyond. But the effort was visible and should be appreciated.
Harmanpreet’s bizarre run-out after her sensational attack pretty much was the icing on the unpalatable cake.
