India Women had to settle for a silver medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games after losing to the Australian women’s cricket team in the final. This is the third time in five years that the Indian women’s cricket team has made it to the final of a competition and lost.
In 2017, England Women defeated India Women in a nail-biting final match of the 50-over Women’s World Cup. After that, in 2020, Australia Women beat the Women in Blue to win the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup title on home soil.
Fans may not have noticed some interesting coincidences between India’s defeats in 2017 Women’s World Cup and 2022 Commonwealth Games. Here’s a list of four such coincidences.
1. Both matches happened in England
England has hosted several high-profile matches in cricket history. The 2017 Women’s World Cup Final happened at the Lord’s cricket ground in London. Yesterday evening, the 2022 Commonwealth Games match took place at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
2. India Women lost both matches by 9 runs
Another interesting coincidence is that the Women in Blue batted second in both matches. They almost chased the target but eventually fell short by nine runs.
3. Harmanpreet Kaur scored a fifty
All-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur has been one of the best cricketers for the Women in Blue. In the 2017 Women’s World Cup Final, she scored 51 runs. Yesterday, against Australia Women, she was the top-scorer with a 65-run knock. Unfortunately, Kaur failed to finish things off in both the big games.
4. A 90-run third-wicket partnership for India Women
Smriti Mandhana could not score big in both matches, but the third wicket partnership kept the Women in Blue’s hopes alive. Harmanpreet Kaur was involved in both partnerships. In the 2017 match against England Women, Kaur and Poonam Raut added 95 runs for the third wicket, while in 2022 against Australia Women, Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues added 96 runs.
