Harman not happy with lower-order collapse in Australia defeat as she rues India’s 6 for 36 collapse on flat Vizag pitch.
India went from 294 for 4 in the 43rd over to 330 all out, a total that proved inadequate for skipper Harman.
At the Women’s World Cup 2025, India’s renowned top five finally joined the celebrations with an incredible 330, but they fell “30 to 40 runs” short due to their lower-order collapse, the pitch’s flatness, and the Australians’ strength.
India feels they could have scored much more after being put at 294 for 4 in 42.5 overs, but it was the first time any side has scored over 300 while batting first against Australia. They were bowled out with seven balls remaining after losing the following six wickets for 36 runs.
India’s middle-order batsmen got off to a strong start after their openers Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal struck half-centuries, but neither they nor the lower order were able to capitalise on the promise.
“The way we started we thought if we could have added more 30-40 runs on the board, we missed runs in the last six-seven overs,” captain Harmanpreet Kaur said at the presentation. “We kept losing wickets and that really cost us because today’s pitch was totally different. We knew it was a good batting wicket, but those last six overs where we were not able to capitalise really cost us.
“Today the first 40 overs were really good and in the last 10 we were not executing well. In matches these things are going to happen, we are not going to be 100% all the time but it’s very important how you come back.”
India needed to finish better to cross the finish line, and head coach Amol Muzumdar agreed with his skipper. To demonstrate that the squad has problems with the ball as well, he cited the loss to South Africa, where they were in a strong position but were unable to defend 251.
“Look, in my opinion, the finish is very important in a cricket game,” Muzumdar said at the press conference. “I always say, even in this dressing room, that yes, we need a good start, but we need a better finish. So, if you see the finish that we had in the South Africa game, as far as bowling is concerned in the last five overs, we ended up losing that game. And, even today, basically, if we would have got another 20 runs, maybe things would have been different. But, at the same time, it’s been a gradual progress for us. And there are a lot of learnings. I keep talking about positives and learnings. One of the things to learn is to finish well.”