Harmanpreet Kaur raised everyone eyebrows after her lofty knock of 171 not out which pushed India into the final of the Women’s Cricket World Cup. The 28 year old all-rounder has produced one of the best innings in the World Cup history.
Mithali Raj took the decision of bating first on a green pitch . India lost Smriti Mandhana in the first over and Poonam in the 10th over as the opening pair fails to deliver in a big match against the defending champion Australia. After 60 balls India had pottered 36 runs when an all-rounder from Punjab came on the crease. Now the game was totally depending upon Mithali and Harmanpreet who were dealing in singles and collecting dot ball till the half way mark. Raj left Harmanpreet after scoring 36 in 61 deliveries and leaving Kaur to anchor the inning. Harman was human until he scores 41 of 60 with the help of two decent boundaries. The free hit transformed her into a beast and then she started placing the ball where she wanted with great power and fluent bat swing. I was taken back to the greatest innings in World Cup history- Kapil Dev’s 175 of 138 deliveries against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge in 1983 World Cup Semi-Final. She literally started assaulting Australian bowlers and tearing them apart through her flamboyant performance. The human body was not meant to give this staggering performance. Harmanpreet resembles the Millennium Falcon, voyaging faster than she was designed to travel.
Until this game, Harmanpreet has been considered as a underachiever in this Major tournament scoring 24 notout,10,20,0,23 and 60. A baffled Mithali Raj even talked about how younger players needed to take some burden of her shoulder. But she stood up and scored a blistering knock of 171 from 115 which includes 20 boundaries and 7 sixes. She scored 60% of total run which was 281 for 4, with all great numbers she has carried Indian team single-handedly against Australia.
