CHENNAI: THE Indian lower-order batswomen ran like panic-stricken passengers trying to reach a gate 10 minutes after the last and final boarding call. Aborted singles, run outs and near misses formed the theme of the last 10 overs as the team lost the World Cup by nine runs.
Chasing 229, the Women in Blue folded for 219, with eight balls remaining. While this has been a tremendous run for the team, the bottle job in the last 60 balls reminded one of the South African men’s team. Forcefully snatching defeat when win looked like the only possible result.
At one point in time — with betting companies making England rank outsiders at 8/1 — India were cruising. At 191/3 with a well set Punam Rout 14 away from becoming the first Indian, man or woman, to score a century in a World Cup final, the result seemed academic. Nobody read that memo to Anya Shrubsole, though. She caught Punam plumb, removed Veda Krishnamurthy, before taking three of the last four wickets as Indian nerves collapsed in sensational fashion. Figures of 6/46 revealed the extent of her control.
But the final, and the result, shouldn’t take away the bigger picture of what these women have done over the course of the last month. They definitely created a stir as eyeballs gradually increased. This final will go down as the most-watched women’s cricket encounter of all time. Their exciting brand of cricket has won them new fans. Now, time will tell whether the team can use this as launchpad for a better system back home.