Led by Smriti Mandhana‘s fireworks, Harmanpreet Kaur‘s Team India defeated Ireland by 5 runs (DLS) to enter the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2023.
India gained the toss and Harmanpreet Kaur elected to bat first. Batting first, Shafali Verma performed an uncharacteristic knock of 24 off 29 deliveries, whereas Mandhana stored enjoying her pictures. India amassed 42 runs after the Powerplay. Mandhana continued to play her pictures, however the different batters like skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Richa Ghosh could not chip in as India faltered ultimately, posting 155 in 20 overs. Mandhana finally struck a cultured, but error-laden 87 to fireplace India’s complete as much as 155. This was additionally Mandhana’s highest ever T20I rating.Â
Chasing 156, Ireland misplaced two wickets within the first over itself however recovered effectively to put up 44 after the primary six overs. Rain gods although had different plans, and it began pouring down, with Ireland nonetheless 5 runs behind the DLS par rating. The match, because it turned out, didn’t resume and India took dwelling the laurels.
 “Reaching the semifinals means a lot. We are working hard for so many years and we always want to do well. Hope we’ll give our 100%. against  Australia. It will be a do or die game. We just want to go and play free cricket,” mentioned Kaur throughout the post-match shows.Â
Record Breaking Harmanpreet Kaur
Harmanpreet Kaur scripted historical past as she grew to become the primary Indian girl cricketer to attain 3000 T2OI runs. In the all-time checklist, Kaur stands at quantity 4, behind Stafanie Taylor, who has 3166 worldwide runs. Not solely this, Kaur turn into the primary and solely participant on the planet- throughout Men and Women’s cricket to function in 150 T20I video games for India. Kaur performed her 149th T20I towards England on Sunday and shattered Rohit Sharma‘s file for many appearances (148) within the shortest format.
India, perhaps, will face Australia within the semifinals on Feb. 23 in Newlands, Cape Town.
