CWG 2022 Semi-Final 1: England Women vs India Women – Who Said What

India Women created history at the 2022 Commonwealth Games as they have qualified for the final of the inaugural Cricket T20 tournament, having defeated England by four runs in the semifinal in Edgbaston, Birmingham on August 6, Saturday. It was a last-over thriller, and it was Harmanpreet Kaur’s side who held their nerves and took the match home.

For the hosts, this was only their first defeat of the tournament after four games. But they are now out of the race for the gold medal and will head to the 3rd place play-off at the same venue on Sunday. Earlier in the match, Kaur won the toss and elected to bat first. Star opener Smriti Mandhana gave India a great start and India were on 64 for no loss after the six-over powerplay.

Mandhana went on to score a quickfire 61 runs off 32 balls before being dismissed in the ninth over. Jemimah Rodrigues, arriving at number three, also played a good hand, scoring an unbeaten 44 runs off 31 balls, taking the side to a score of 164 in 20 overs. For the Three Lionesses, the pick of the bowlers was left-arm pacer Freya Kemp, who bagged two wickets for 22 runs in three overs.

Spinners hold their nerve to guide India to a famous win 

Like India, England started strongly in the first six overs, led by opener Danielle Wyatt, as they scored 58 runs during the period. Wyatt laid a good foundation at the top, scoring 35 runs off 27 balls, before eventually being dismissed in the ninth over.

Natalie Sciver contributed in the middle with an important 41 runs off 43 balls, complemented by Amy Jones with 31 runs off 24 balls. However, one of England’s major causes of the downfall was the run-outs. Sciver, Jones and Alice Capsey were all run out after unfortunate mixups and virtually handed the game to India.

Also, spinners Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana contained the batters with some disciplined bowling, and piled the pressure on England in the middle phase of the innings. And in the last three overs, the hosts simply had too much to get. Katherine Brunt and Maia Bouchier on the crease needed 14 off the last over. Rana with the ball held her nerve and conceded only three of the first five balls, and six off the last ball to hand India a famous victory. India will face either New Zealand or Australia in the final on Sunday.

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said:

I had to be fired up, because if I am charged the team would be involved and they’d never think we’re out of the game. Shefali did well in patches, sometimes it’s hard to go when you don’t get strike. She’ll learn about staying in and how to overcome such situations. But Smriti was fantastic. Jemimah is a fighter, these things happen. She will be fine, she got a little strain on her hand but she will be fine. (On Shefali bowling) She’s very confident, we need someone who asks to bowl. You need to mix up the pace, so we tried to use her to vary the pace. One of her overs went well but the other was expensive. (On being asked if she’ll watch the second Semi-final) I will watch the next semi-final, to learn from it and make our plans.

India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana

I was trying to remember the last-ball matches and hoped we would get over the line. We haven’t done that well, so more than my fielding, I was hoping to get over the line this time. We have given a few overs but with matches like this, roles have to be changed. Deepti’s overs in the middle were important. Rana was amazing bowling with only three fielders in the deep. That will be remembered for a long time. (On her form) I was batting well in the last 2-3 weeks, it was like I was 2-3 years back. I’m happy to have found the touch, hope to do it in the final too. (On the atmosphere) The crowd is amazing, today England had the support. We usually have it. I’ll take half an hour for things to settle in. But it’s been an amazing today.