New Delhi: Harmanpreet Kaur had one heck of a day at Derby, on Thursday, when she struck a phenomenal 115-ball unbeaten 171 as Indian eves ousted the defending champions Australia to pave their way into their second ICC Women's World Cup final.
Her brilliance with the bat at Derby – hailed as one of the best knocks by an Indian batter on World Cup stage – was stitched with 20 ravishing boundaries and seven outrageous sixes.
Kaur walked in when India were two down within the first ten overs of their innings. With just 35 runs on the scoreboard, Kaur partnered with skipper Mithali Raj (36) to weave a 66-run stand. She carried on with her brutal onslaught over the formidable Aussie bowling line-up by stitching a 135-run partnership along with Deepti Sharma to push India's total to 281.
Take a look at how Harmanpreet Kaur tormented the Aussie attack...
Who'd be a bowler?!@imHarmanpreet smashed seven sixes v Australia in one of the great innings of #WWC17! pic.twitter.com/srVA5sBjH1
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 21, 2017
The Punjab-based all-rounder, who idolises former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag, said during the post-match presentation, "Today's plan was just watch the ball, hit it hard and this is what I was doing. Some areas they were bowling well but I just wanted to hit and rotate the strike."
"I didn't get a chance to bat in the whole tournament," she said, "Today when I got the chance I just wanted to utilise it, this opportunity, because today was the day where I wanted to prove myself, and thanks to God, whatever I was thinking, [worked]. Mithali and Deepti [Sharma] scored really well and Veda [Krishnamurthy] scored really well."
India are now up against the host nation England, for the ICC Womens's World Cup final, at Lord's on Sunday.
