Shafali Verma had dropped a dolly at covers to see Alyssa Healy survive when she was on nine. To make things worse, Rajeshwari Gayakwad dropped Beth Mooney in single figures.
India's Shikha Pandey in action. (Photo: Twitter/@T20WorldCup)
India, who finished their Group A campaign as table-toppers at the just-concluded Women’s T20 World Cup, had a pathetic end to the tournament as they suffered a humiliating 85-run loss to Australia in the finale at MCG on Sunday.
The Women in Blue were playing their maiden T20 World Cup final in comparison to Australia’s sixth. And the inexperience of the visiting girls was exposed to perfection even though they entered the final as the unbeaten team in the tournament.
However, India pacer Shikha Pandey feels that nerves weren’t the issue, but they were the missed chances that cost India the match.
Advertisement
“Nerves weren’t really a factor. Once you get onto the field, you just zone out. I don’t think I felt nerves,” Shikha said as quoted by IANS.
Teenage sensation Shafali Verma, who had a dream run with the bat before the final, had dropped a dolly at covers to see Alyssa Healy survive when she was on nine. To make things worse, Rajeshwari Gayakwad dropped Beth Mooney in single figures and some other fielding errors ensued India remained on the backfoot.
Australian openers Healy (75 off 39) and Mooney (78 off 54) stitched 115 runs in 11.4 overs and made the match a one-sided affair in the first quarter only.
“Initially, if you gift chances to batters in form they’re going to use them. It could have gone either way but those chances costed us. We could have been better in all three departments, it wasn’t just the fielding,” said Shikha.
Advertisement
