In the 33rd over of a tense World Cup semifinal in Navi Mumbai, Jemimah Rodrigues made an error in judgment, mistiming a sweep off Alana King, and the leading edge went up in the night sky. In those brief moments, as the ball hung in the air, Indian fans would have had nightmares of past World Cups. If the catch was held, could it be the trigger for another batting collapse? It wasn’t that long ago that a rash Smriti Mandhana shot led them to a defeat against England in Indore. It was, in fact, Rodrigues’ wicket in the T20 World Cup semifinal two years ago that led to another heartbreak against Meg Lanning’s Australia.
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With 133 needed off 106 balls at that stage, Australia would’ve sensed a chance to close in. The finish line would have started to appear in sight. But then, captain Alyssa Healy, rightly making the call that it was her catch to go for, with the gloves in hand, ran forward a few yards and dropped a relative sitter. Relative, only because of the occasion, skill-wise, it was as easy as they’d come. Rodrigues would later reveal her energy was flagging at this point before she found rejuvenation from her teammates to follow and take India past the finish line. Healy, on her part, without taking credit away from India, pointed out to such moments where ‘there’s an element of we let ourselves down.’ Cricket matches are rarely won or lost in one instance, but this went a long way in ending Australia’s reign.
But, perhaps there is another element to this ‘what if…’ scenario, too. It is worth noting that Harmanpreet Kaur was at the non-striker’s end when Healy dropped Rodrigues. It could have just as easily triggered Harmanpreet’s senses and forced her to buckle down, repeating what happened that day in Cape Town when her bat got stuck, leading to a match-defining run out. Maybe, just as likely, Harmanpreet would have swung her bat harder in Navi Mumbai to take India home too.
