Women's Asia Cup 2022: Harmanpreet Kaur sets an ultra aggressive field for hat-trick delivery against Thailand

India scripted history by making it to the finals of the Women’s Asia Cup 2022 for the eighth consecutive time when the Women in Blue defeated Thailand by 74 runs in the first semi-final of the continental event. After the batters posted a 149-run target for Thailand to chase, the Indian bowlers worked their magic with the ball in the second innings to take India one step closer to the coveted cup.

In the 19^th over of the second innings, India’s experienced spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad picked up two consecutive wickets and got on a hat-trick ball. She first dismissed Thailand skipper Naruemol Chaiwai on the fourth delivery of the over and continued her celebration by adding another wicket in her bag by picking up Phannita Maya.

In order to maximise Gayakwad’s chances of getting the hat-trick, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur set up the field brilliantly. It was not exactly umbrella fielding or what is popularly known as the Carmody field, but Kaur attempted to deploy a similar strategy. A Carmody field is when all the nine players, excluding the wicket-keeper and the bowler, gather the batter on strike. But in India’s case, Harman had seven.

Onnicha Kamchomphu, the batter on the field, smartly pitched the ball in the air which traveled from above Gayakwad’s head where there was no fielder deployed. As a result, India’s plan for the hat-trick delivery failed. But nevertheless, India managed to outsmart Thailand to win the contest and Gayakwad ended up with two wickets.

India's eight finale in eight editions of Asia Cup

Speaking of how the game panned out, Shafali Verma and Harmanpreet Kaur’s knocks helped India post a defendable total. The openers started off well, but the middle-order batters could not channel the momentum. Verma’s opening knock of a 28-ball 42, followed by Jemimah Rodrigues’ 28(26) and Kaur’s 36(30) steadies India’s innings. Thanks to Pooja Vastrakar’s quick-fire 13-ball 17* towards the end, India managed to post a target of 149 runs.

While defending the total, Deepti Sharma got India an early breakthrough by picking up two wickets. Thereon, Indian bowlers kept picking up wickets at regular intervals, and every bowler, except for Radha Yadav finished with at least one wicket. Sharma ended as the highest wicket-taker with three scalps under her name as India restricted Thailand to just 74 runs in their 20-overs quota.