Australia do not depend on one or two players like us: Harmanpreet Kaur

India fell short by an agonising nine-run margin against Australia in the Women's T20 World Cup in Dubai on October 13 (Sunday). As a result, their fate is no longer in their hands as far as making it through to the semi-final is concerned. India captain Harmanpreet Kaur tried her best to steer her side home with an unbeaten 54 off 47 but found very little support at the other end, which proved to be pivotal. 

She did put on 63 for the fourth wicket with Deepti Sharma (29), but no batter after that stuck around with their skipper. Harmanpreet believes Australia do not depend on just one or two players, like India, which proved pivotal.

"I think their entire team contribute, they don't depend on one or two players, they have a lot of all-rounders who contribute. We also planned well and we were there in the game. They didn't gave away easy runs and made it difficult. They are an experienced side," Harmanpreet said at the post-match presentation.

Australia put up 151 on the board, which Harmanpreet believes was chasable. "It was a chaseable total. When me and Deepti were batting, we couldn't hit a few loose balls. We can learn a lot from Australia. Whatever was in our hands, we were trying to do that but that's something not in our control," she added.

Australia became the first team in this edition of the World Cup to reach the semi-final. Stand-in skipper Tahlia McGrath says she is extremely proud of the way her side played against a resurgent Indian side.

"We want to win every game we play, India came really hard at us, the girls played really well and I'm proud of them. The whole team got around me, a lot of players in different roles today and they stepped up. It was a bit hard, it was skidding on at times and keeping low at other times," McGrath said.

Sophie Molinuex, who was awarded the Player of the Match, said that her side succeeded as they put the pressure back on India, when they heat was on them. "It was a really good game, India came out hard. It was a quality game and it went down to the wire, we held on to our nerves. We wanted to stay calm and all the senior players stepped up. When the pressure was on, we bounced back," she said.

While Australia have made it through, with four wins in four, India's fate hangs in the balance. They will need a huge favour from their arch-rivals Pakistan, who need to beat New Zealand for the Harmanpreet-led side to qualify for the semi-final.

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