Published By: Saksham Mishra

Mithali Raj and Co, a heartbreak for the ages

India missed out on making it to the semi-final of the 2022 Women's ODI World Cup by a thin margin.

Good shout for semis berth

The team was placed at a good spot with 3 victories and 3 losses from 6 matches and a win against South Africa in their last League match would have guaranteed a place in the semi-final.

The team looked set to achieve that when they posted 274 runs on the board while batting first on the back of half centuries from Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma and Mithali Raj.

It came down to the last over with South Africa needing 7 runs. Deepti Sharma did a fine job of dismissing Trisha Chetty off the second ball of the over.

Blunder

With three runs needed off the last two deliveries, South Africa's best batter on the night Mignon du Preez was caught at the boundary by Harmanpreet Kaur and India was on the doorstep of victory. But a no ball meant that Mignon du Preez not only got a life but a free hit as well.

With one run each on the last two deliveries of the match, South Africa got over the line by 3 wickets to qualify for the semi final and knock India out of the competition.

A pleased du Preez

"I have been very fortunate, the girls have supported me throughout, I haven't had the best start to the tournament with the bat but to be able to do it today for us today was very special. The biggest thing was to take it deep. When I got in, there was still quite a few overs and we knew if we actually gave us some time, it'll get easier. Myself and Kapp said again we just need to take it as deep as possible.", Mignon du Preez, Player of the Match stated.

"We always knew what Chloe Tryon could do. She hit a couple of boundaries. This knock means a lot, it's been a tough few weeks when I haven't contributed like I would have liked. To do it when it matters the most, getting the momentum right into the semifinal, I'll take it anytime of the week. We can't do it without the fans, thank you very much for all the support.", Mignon added further.

The defeat in all probability also brought an end to the careers of legends Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami.