It was the seventh anniversary last week of Harmanpreet Kaur’s historic century against Australia in the second semifinal of the 2017 Women’s World Cup. The current Indian skipper selected that outstanding innings as her favourite on-field memory in a recent interview.
When Harmanpreet faced the powerful Australians, they put on an incredible display that enthralled the spectators at Derby’s County Ground. India thrashed 281/4 in a rain-shortened match that was limited to 42 overs per side, thanks to a Punjab batsman’s unbeaten 171 from 115 balls. Throughout her innings, she hit 20 fours and seven sixes, culminating in an incredible strike rate of 148.69.
Prior to the game, Harmanpreet Kaur remembered hearing from a friend that India would win if she scored 150.
The right-handed batter acknowledged that she was taken aback by her friend’s viewpoint at first. Later on, though, she realised that India might defeat the talented Australians if she put in extra effort.
When I scored 171 on the pitch in 2017, that was incredible. One of my buddies told me before the game that we would only win tomorrow if you scored 150 runs. “150 runs?” I exclaimed. I’ve heard that you’ll win tomorrow and score 100 runs. I mean, what exactly is this need, 150? In order to win tomorrow, I will need to score 150 runs. That stayed with me the entire evening, and I couldn’t help but think that since they were such a formidable squad, I would need to play a different kind of football to defeat them. So, in my opinion, that was really special for me “Harmanpreet told Star Sports.
India, captained by Mithali Raj, went on to defeat Australia for 245 runs in 40.1 overs, winning the match by a margin of 36 runs. Harmanpreet’s rapid-fire knock earned her the rightful title of Player of the Match.
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The Women’s Asia Cup 2024 is presently being played in Sri Lanka by the Indian squad. The Women in Blue have already triumphed over their bitter rivals Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates under Harmanpreet’s direction. They have a good chance of making it to the continental competition semifinals.