Harmanpreet refuses to blame team selection, slams lower order after Australia overpower India: 'Last five overs cost us'

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur refused to blame the team’s selection policy after their three-wicket defeat against Australia in their ICC Women’s World Cup match in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, and chose to target the batting department once again.

And after slamming the top-order for not doing enough following their three-wicket defeat against South Africa on Thursday, Harmanpreet directed her ire towards the lower order for failing to capitalise on a dream start as the Women in Blue lost to the defending world champions by a similar margin – albeit after setting a much higher target.

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Openers Smriti Mandhana (80) and Pratika Rawal (75) had, after all, struck half-centuries and forged a mammoth opening partnership worth 155 to get India off to a dream start after Australia skipper Alyssa Healy opted to field at the ACA-VDCA Stadium on Sunday.

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The trio of Harleen Deol (38), Jemimah Rodrigues (33) and Richa Ghosh (32) too made handy contributions, while Harmanpreet chipped in with 22 off 17 as India found themselves eyeing a score above 360 after reaching 294/4 in the 43rd over.

‘We missed runs in the last six overs’

Instead, India were bowled out for 330 after losing their last six wickets for 36 runs as the Australians fought back towards the end of the innings led by seamer Annabel Sutherland’s (5/40) five-for.

“The way we started, we could have added more 30-40 runs. We missed runs in the last six overs and that cost us. t was a good batting wicket, but not batting well in the last six overs cost us,” Harmanpreet said during the post-match presentation ceremony.

“Openers have been outstanding, because of them we have been scoring 300 runs. The last five overs cost us. Last three games we were not able to bat in the middle overs. Our lower order took responsibility. Today the first 40 overs were good. It is important how we come back, these things happen,” she added.

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Despite becoming the first team to post a 300-plus total against Australia in the ICC World Cup, the massive total wasn’t enough for the Indians to collect their third win in four outings as Healy’s magnificent 142 as well as important contributions from Ellyse Perry (47 not out) and Ashleigh Gardner (45) helped the Southern Stars pull off a record chase with an over to spare.

India had earlier retained the same playing XI despite their defeat at the hands of the Proteas, sticking with five bowling options as a result in order to have a batting heavy line-up. As a result, the World Cup co-hosts did produce their best batting performance of the tournament so far, crossing 300 for the first time.

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However, when it came to defending that total on a batting-friendly wicket against the world’s best team, India ended up falling short. The Women in Blue did put up a brave fight and did not give up till the very end, but the foundation laid by Healy’s century ensured the seven-time ODI world champions always remained a step ahead. That along with the fact that Australia bat even deeper than India.

India have now suffered back-to-back losses after starting their campaign with victories over Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and face England – the only team that has won all the matches that they have played so far – next Sunday in Indore. That will be followed by tricky fixtures against New Zealand and Bangladesh towards the end of the league stage.

And given how things stand at the moment, India will be hoping to win at least two of their next three matches in order to stand a chance of reaching the semi-finals of the home World Cup. And for that to happen, they will need to rethink their selection strategy.

“We’ll sit and discuss. This combination has given us success. Two bad games are not going to make a difference,” Harmanpreet added towards the end of the presentation ceremony when asked about the team strategy going forward.