India Women’s team in the World Cup final
However, under the leadership of Mithali Raj, the Indian cricket team was able to reach its first ICC Women’s World Cup finals in 2005, as the final clash was played against Australia on 10 April. On this day, we take a look at the final clash of the Women’s World Cup, which turned out to be the first heartbreak for the Indian Women’s team.
The Indian Women’s team had a dominant start to the 2005 Women’s World Cup. With their first match against Sri Lanka being washed out by rain, the team went on for consecutive wins against Ireland Women (by 9 wickets), South Africa Women (by 4 wickets), and England Women (by 3 wickets). The only loss which the team suffered in the seven league stage games came against New Zealand Women, where they lost by 16 runs. However, a win against the West Indies Women by 8 wickets helped them to finish at the 2nd spot in the group stages and reach the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, the team once again faced New Zealand Women and were eager to take revenge for their only loss in the group stages. Batting first, the Indian Women’s team was able to score 204 runs for the loss of 6 wickets, with Mithali Raj scoring 91 runs off 104 balls and Anjum Chopra scoring 44 runs off 110 balls. In return, the New Zealand Women’s team fell short by 40 runs in the chase, as Amita Sharma and Nooshin Al Khadeer took 3 wickets each. This win also allowed the Indian Women’s team to reach its first World Cup final, and they became the first Asian team to do so.
On April 10, it was time for the Indian Women’s team to script history as they went on against the Australian Women’s team in the finals at Centurion. They were also the only team that made it to the finals, being undefeated throughout the tournament, and won the semi-final clash against England Women by 5 wickets. The match started with the Australian Women’s team winning the toss and elected to bat first.
At the start of the game, it seemed as if the Indian bowlers could create much-needed pressure on the batters of the Australian Women’s team. Amita Sharma dismissed Belinda Clark at the score of 19 runs off 33 balls in the 8th over. She was quickly followed by Lisa Keightley, who got out to Jhulan Goswami at the score of 5 runs off 19 balls. Mel Jones and Karen Rolton seemed to have a good partnership, but Neetu David got the breakthrough by dismissing Jones in the 25th over of the game.
The pressure seemed to be mounting on the batting line-up of the Australian Women’s team, but Karen Rolton and Lisa Sthalekar turned the tables. They had an impressive 139-run stand, where Karen Rolton reached a century, scoring 107 runs off 128 balls, and Lisa Sthalekar also scored 55 runs off 75 balls, which turned the pressure back on the Indian bowling line-up. In the end, the Australia Women’s team ended up at the score of 215 runs for the loss of 4 wickets, creating a massive challenge to the Indian batters.
Coming down to chase the target on the big stage, the Indian Women’s team felt the pressure, as the Aussies were able to take over them quickly. Out of the 10 wickets which the team lost while chasing, four of them were in run outs, which showcased the outstanding fielding performances by the Australian Women’s team and also the wrong calls by the Indian Women’s team, which led to 4 wickets in this way.
Anju Jain and Jaya Sharma came down to open for the team, but the Australian bowlers were able to keep the run rate down, creating more pressure on them to score runs in this big chase. As a result, Jaya Sharma lost her wicket in the 8th over with a runout. She was shortly followed by the wicket of the other opener, Anju Jain, who got out at the score of 29 runs off 52 balls against Clea Smith. After Jain’s wicket, it seemed like the Indian Women’s batting line-up had tumbled down, with wickets falling quickly and some of them even through run-outs in a crucial chase.
The Indian Women’s team had an issue with their middle order, failing to settle, as the team went from 54 for the loss of 3 wickets to 64 for the loss of 6 wickets, losing the wickets of Anjum Chopra, Mithali Raj, Rumeli Dhar, and Hemlata Kala in the span of just 10 runs. The lower order of the team also tried its best to fight, as Amita Sharma and Jhulan Goswami were able to set themselves on the crease. But Amita got out at the score of 22 runs off 51 balls, and Jhulan Goswami also got dismissed at the score of 18 runs off 38 balls. In the end, the India Women’s team got all out at the score of 117, allowing the Australian Women’s team to win the World Cup finals by 98 runs.
Karen Rolton was given the Player of the Match award for her impressive 107 runs off 128 balls in the final clash. Also, she was the player of the tournament, scoring a total of 246 runs and taking 10 wickets in the ICC Women’s World Cup. This match also brought various lessons for the India Women’s cricket team, as they flourished in performances after the same.