India claimed a historic silver medal in the CWG 2022 losing to Australia in the final by nine runs at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Tuesday. Chasing 161 to win, India fell agonizing short despite skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s 43-ball off 65 and Jemimah Rodrigues’ run-a-ball 33. India had lost to Australia in the group stages while the Aussies came into the final unbeaten. India were in a commanding position in the chase and looked set to win, but a mini-collapse that saw them lose three wickets in the space of nine balls, changed the momentum of the game and Australia clawed back and won a thriller.

Kaur had led from the front in the chase and combined with Rodrigues for a match-turning stand of 96 runs for the third wicket. Durng her knock the skipper smashed two sixes and seven fours and smoked the Australian bowlers all around the park. Rodrigues played second fiddle hitting three fours during her knock. But, Australia did not go down easy as they clawed back in to the game with the wickets of Rodrigues and Kaur in back-to-back overs. In fact India lost three wickets in the space of nine balls and went from being 118/2 to 121/5.

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Mooney, Gardner Guide Australia to 9-run Win in Final of CWG

Australian bowlers then stifled India with a couple of runs out. It eventually came down to concussion substitute Yashtika Bhaita – in for Taniya Bhatia – to try and take India home. India needed 11 off the last over, bowled by Jess Jonassen and Yastika could not see her them home.

Meghna was run-out of the second delivery of the final over and off the third, Jonassen trapped Yastika in front as India were all out for 152. India had lost their in-form opener Smriti Mandhana early in the piece – bowled down the leg side for just 6 – by Darcy Brown. Shafali Verma threatened with her bold strokeplay but despite reprieve early on, she fell to Ash Gardner for 11.

However, Kaur and Rodrigues’ partnership took the game away from Australia and by the time Rodrigues fell to Meghan Schutt, India were closing in on a famous victory. but Australia turned things around as India succumbed to the scoreboard pressure. Opting to bat first, Meg Lanning’s side were limited to 169/8 with Renuka Singh. The tournament’s highest wicket-taker leading from the front claiming 2/25 in her four overs, while Sneh Rana returned 2/38. For Australia, Beth Mooney top-scored with 61, while Lanning contributed 36, before being run out at the non-strikers’ end by some smart work by Rana Yadav off her own bowling.

For Harmanpreet Kaur, playing for the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games “means a lot” and a favorable result in the final can “change a lot of things” for the game in India. Speaking after India’s four-run win in a seesaw semi-final against England at Edgbaston on Saturday, Harmanpreet, now India’s all-format captain, said the result was possible because of the players’ immense self-belief and their never-say-die attitude. For the record, this was India’s first win in a knockout game in a T20I competition outside the Commonwealth games.

“It means a lot for us, we’ve been working hard for so long,” Harmanpreet said. “This is a great platform for us. Participating for the first time [in the Commonwealth], if we can do well [in the final], a lot of things can change for us. “We never thought or wondered what we are playing for and what we aren’t playing for. [Gold] medal coming or not coming isn’t in our hands. We just want to play well. The way we’ve played so far, we’ve learnt a lot.”

At one stage, with England needing 33 off 24 balls with seven wickets in hand, it looked like the momentum may have slipped away from India. But their spinners, Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana, delivered just when the team needed them to. For Harmanpreet, seeing the energy on the field right, especially under pressure, was a revelation.

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Smriti Mandhana, Sneh Rana Shines, securing a medal for Indian Side

“Until the last moment, we believed we could win, even though they had a couple of strong partnerships,” she said. “Even when they were going well, no one gave up. We’ve been working on this for a while. If you keep doing this, results will come at some point along the way, and I’m glad it is showing now.

“It was an important match. It feels good that everyone stepped up to their responsibilities with the bat, ball and on the field. It’s important that all of them remain together in such matches. In the last over, if you see, our fast fielders took the responsibility of fielding in the deep during Commonwealth.

That shows how keen you are to do well for the team.” Harmanpreet suggested that the key to India becoming serious contenders for global titles in recent times, even if they won any, was because they were trying to embrace pressure and not be intimidated by the big stage. She credited the support staff for trying to bring about this change and also for “bringing in new plans”.

“I’m a great fan of knowing how other teams are doing,” she said. “If you’re aware of it, you can plan. We need someone who can help us like that and I’m happy it’s working for us.” Among the plans that were put to good use on Saturday were, firstly, taking pace off the ball against England’s middle-order batters, and secondly, having the deep-cover fielder squarer than usual in the death overs.

ENG-w vs IND-w, CWG: India 164 for 5 (Mandhana 61, Rodrigues 44*, Kemp 2-22) beat England 160 for 6 (Sciver 41, Wyatt 35, Jones 31, Rana 2-28) by four runs

Steadfast by their rival’s strength and undaunted by their own set of experiences of floundering under tension, India adapted to the situation before 17,000 fans to beat England in a tight challenge and set up a session for the gold decoration at CWG 2022.

Smriti Mandhana’s pulsating half century and Jemimah Rodrigues’ finishing act set up major areas of strength for a, which the bowlers shielded subsequent to defeating a dull beginning. With her team requiring 27 off 12 balls, Nat Sciver undermined an escape as England scored 13 – including a huge Sciver six – off the initial four bundles of Pooja Vastrakar’s nineteenth over. Sciver, notwithstanding, hoped to hasten a tight second run off the following ball and turned into the third England player to be run out in the innings. With England requiring 14 off the last over, offspinner Sneh Rana went full and direct to deny the players rise, and India just barely got home by four runs.

Having persevered through an enormous deplorability, England, unbeaten in the opposition until now, should turn up in under 24 hours for their bronze-decoration season finisher. India, in the interim, are through to the last where they will play the victor of the second semi-last, the trans-Tasman conflict between New Zealand and Australia.

Mandhana’s impact forthright

Mandhana had been timing the ball magnificently all competition, and it was the same on Saturday. A display of clean ball-striking and a game without half-measures conveyed a 23-ball 50 years to set the game up after India chose for bat. Right off the bat in the innings, she put squeeze on the 17-year-old offspinner Alex Capsey and the unpracticed Issy Wong, whom she pulled hatefully over the ropes before square to set out a marker. India brought their fifty up in 4.3 overs – it was their speediest exertion in T20Is – and toward the end of the powerplay they had moved to 64 without misfortune.

The double-strike

From an agreeable 76 for 0 in the eighth over, India slipped as Shafali Verma and Mandhana fell in about five deliveries. Shafali holed out to mid-off while attempting to muscle one down the ground, and Mandhana fell while endeavouring a scoop off a full delivery that had no speed on it. These dismissals coincided with England fixing the screws as overs 8-11 delivered only 12 runs. Harmanpreet Kaur broke the shackles with two fours and a six in overs 12-14, yet was out soon, splendidly caught by Maia Bouchier running in from deep in reverse square leg. After 14 overs, India were 113 for 3, amidst a lull.

The finish

Like in the game against Barbados, Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma had a stage from where they could send off India to a solid aggregate. They started by playing contact cricket, aware of another wicket uncovering the lower request, and from that point started to switch gears. Rodrigues was especially great with her footwork against turn, venturing to the leg side to hit back to front over cover more than once. Deepti was a touch more gutsy, uncovering each of the three stumps and utilising Sophie Ecclestone’s speed to scoop her for consecutive boundaries  to start India’s last rising. They added 53 off only 38 balls to give India energy and a score they would have maybe taken at the throw. Rodrigues finished unbeaten on 44 off 31 subsequent to moving ahead at a run a ball for a significant part of her knock.

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Sciver, Jones undermine escape

Sciver and Amy Jones steadied the innings after the fall of Wyatt, as England hit only two boundaries in overs 10-15. Yet, they drained an adequate number of runs in that period to remain in the chase, as England went into the last five overs requiring 48. India, planning on taking the speed off, gave part time offspinner Shafali the sixteenth over, and Jones hit her for consecutive fours to bring the condition down to a sensible 33 off 24 with six wickets close by. Yet again however both Jones and Sciver were run out, with England back under tension following a tight seventeenth over from Deepti, and India were on top. Rana in the long run nailed her full lengths in the last over to finish off the game. Deepti and Rana got done with joint figures of 3 for 46 from eight overs, which demonstrated unequivocal eventually.

A member of the India Women’s cricket team tested positive for Coronavirus prior to boarding the flight for the Commonwealth Games 2022 in the UK. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly affirmed the news after the apex council meeting of the board on Thursday.

Women’s T20I cricket is important for CWG 2022 set to be held in Birmingham this year where India will begin their campaign on July 29 when they take on world champion Australia.

Women’s cricket is making its CWG debut with all the matches to be played at Edgbaston beginning July 29. The gold and bronze medal matches will be held on August 7.

A total of eight teams are partaking in CWG and divided into two groups of four each. India, Australia, Barbados and Pakistan are in Group A while Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand and South Africa have been placed in Group B.

In the lead up to the quadrennial games, India visited Sri Lanka for six white-ball matches. They first won a three-game T20I series 2-1 before completing a 3-0 clean victory of the ODI series that followed.

In the meantime, India men’s group batter KL Rahul, who was going through rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, has also tested positive for Coronavirus. Rahul was named in India’s T20I crew (liable to full readiness) for the West Indies series yet is presently doubtful.

Rahul, who has been down and out since IPL 2022, recently went through a medical procedure for hernia in Germany as of late subsequent to missing the T20I series against South Africa at home because of injury.

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India’s West Indies visit begins from Friday with a three-match ODI series.

India ladies team for CWG 2022: Harmanpreet Kaur (chief), Smriti Mandhana (bad habit commander), Shafali Verma, S. Meghana, Taniyaa Sapna Bhatia (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana.

As many as 1.2 million tickets have been sold for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games commencing on July 28, the coordinators have said, adding that the Women’s cricket match among India and Pakistan has “really caught the interest” of the local public.

Women’s cricket is making its debut at the Commonwealth Games, and India and Pakistan will be facing off at Edgbaston on July 31. The city is home to a significant number of Indian and Pakistani-origin people.

Addressing PTI, Birmingham Games CEO Ian Reid said the semi-final rounds and final tickets have previously been taken while he expects a housefull crowd even for the India-Pakistan fixture.

“I am a big cricket fan myself. India is in the same group as Pakistan so that has really caught the interest here in Birmingham. It is an iconic venue, your men’s team recently played here over the last few weeks. So it would certainly be one of the highlights of the Games,”

Reid said

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More than 5000 athletes will take part in the Games which will be the biggest sporting event in the UK since the London Olympics in 2012.

“The semifinals and final tickets have already been sold out, probably with the expectation that India and England will be there. India and Pakistan will be close to capacity. We will see an uptick in ticket sales much closer to the event. So I expect that India-Pakistan game to be sold out soon.”

He added

Reid further added that 1.2 million tickets have been sold for the event. They anticipate that that number should go up as they draw nearer to the Games. So by a wide margin the greatest game in the UK since London 2012. They will have around 45,000 workers and paid staff dealing with the occasion. It is a huge event for the region and the city.