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It was a glorious day in the history of Indian Women Cricket team when Harmanpreet kaur scored a magnificient 171 of just 115 balls to lead her team towards the path of victory and enter into the Finale of Women World Cup
You can come to conclusion whether the player is in its peak form or not when you see that they are playing the shots that are difficult to play until and unless you have gained confidence in it
Harmanpreet was playing her shots all over the ground and was swinging the bat to cover grounds very easily, her peak form is defined by the way she was showing aggression on the ground which helped team India to seal the match and enter into the finale
At 20 overs – nearly the halfway mark in 42-overs-a-side affair – India’s scoreboard read 70 for 2. Raj and Harmanpreet were both going at a strike rate of 50, or marginally over. Kristen Beams was in the middle of what could potentially turn out to be a match-defining spell. It was indeed one, but just not how Australia would have liked.
Going into her fourth over on the trot, the legspinner had given away only seven off all her previous deliveries. Out comes the slog-sweep off the third delivery. Harmless boundary, really, at the time. More out of necessity, thought Beams, and Australia. Left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen is up next, Harmanpreet jogs down the track and tonks one oh-so-effortlessly over mid-off for another four.
Harmanpreet’s world is in the right place. Those two are her get out of jail free cards. She rehearses them in nets, and then some more by dragging a couple of net bowlers to one deserted corner of the ground until it’s time to wrap up practice.
Harmanpreet put India in the final after a gap of 12 years, and only for the second time in the history of the ICC Women’s World Cup.
On Thursday, Harmanpreet awakened the monster in her that’s been awfully quiet all long – one that’s grown up imitating Virender Sehwag in front of the mirror – and combined it with all the lessons in footwork that’s been drilled into her over the years. The after result was one of the most jaw-dropping knocks in the history of cricket. Her unstoppable 171* was a one-woman show.
The fifty came off 64 balls, with a free-hit for a six and boundary off Beams that ominously spelled the start of the onslaught. The rest of the carnage took all of 51 deliveries. Her third ODI century, and India’s best-ever in World Cups, was up in 90 balls. Next fifty runs came off just 17 deliveries and the last 21 off eight. India scored 139 runs in the last 11 overs with 108 coming off Harmanpreet’s willow.