Literally, yesterday felt like a “Super Sunday” for Indian cricket. Whether it was at Parth’s Optus Stadium in the morning or Holkar Stadium in Indore at night, the day belonged to both the men’s and women’s teams — yet ended up as a “Superflop Sunday.”
Chasing a target of 289, India’s women lost to England by just 4 runs in the Women’s ODI World Cup. On home soil, India suffered a hat-trick of defeats in the World Cup, making their path to the semifinals even tougher.
With this win, England reached the semifinals. India will play its next match against New Zealand on Thursday. Both teams have 4 points from 5 matches. India’s final group match will be against Bangladesh. Other matches for New Zealand will be against England.
On the day, India’s two spinners, Deepti Sharma (4–51) and Shree Charani (2–68), restricted England to 288–8 in 48 overs after they were 211–2 in 21 overs.
At one point, it seemed England would easily surpass 300. Heather Knight, who was at the crease, played a 109-run innings off 91 balls. Amy Jones scored 56, and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt added 38. India lost primarily due to batting failure. In almost every match, Team India manages to create a winning opportunity but falters in the final overs. Even after significant contributions from seniors like Smriti Mandhana (88), Harmanpreet Kaur (70), and Deepti Sharma (50), India could not finish the game.
Smriti gave away a catch in the air, and Deepti got out with just 27 runs remaining. In the 41st over, India lost key wickets of Smriti and Deepti, leaving them at 262–6 in 46.5 overs. Richa Ghosh’s dismissal (8 off 10 balls) proved to be the turning point. Despite staying on the crease, Amanjot Kaur (18*) and Sneh Rana (10*) could not finish the innings.
Deepti Sharma shone with the ball against England, making history that even Jhulan Goswami hasn’t achieved.
Overall, before Diwali, Indian cricket fans were plunged into disappointment. In matches where the Indian jersey could have shone, neither Rohit Sharma nor Virat Kohli could lift the spirits. India had already lost in the ODI series against the Aussies in Parth, and the women’s team’s struggle in the World Cup continued. Simply put, in the festive Diwali season, the story of cricket began and ended with defeat.
