Cricket
India turned up in a manner befitting the occasion and stopped England at 228 for seven in the final of the ICC Women's World Cup, leaving themselves with a realistic chance of doing what seemed unreal at the start of the tournament.
Updated : Jul 23, 2017, 06:43 PM IST
India turned up in a manner befitting the occasion and stopped England at 228 for seven in the final of the ICC Women's World Cup, leaving themselves with a realistic chance of doing what seemed unreal at the start of the tournament.
The coin landing in the opponents' favour at the toss was hardly a deterrent as India went about the task in a professional manner.
Leading the show was the redoubtable Jhulan Goswami, who scythed through the English middle-order.
A proven performer for far too long, Jhulan delivered with three wickets in the most widely watched game in the history of women's cricket.
The highlight of the lanky Bengali's outing was the back-to-back dismissals of Sarah Taylor and Fran Wilson, which pegged England back.
Taylor is a legend of the women's game and Sciver entered the marquee match on the back of two centuries, and Jhulan had them caught behind and trapped in front of the wicket.
In what could be her last match, Taylor walked off to an ovation from the almost sell-out Lord's crowd after scoring 45 off 62 balls. The veteran English batswoman, surprisingly, could not hit a boundary in her innings.
The in-from Sciver struck 51 off 68 balls, hitting five boundaries in the process, before her recovery act was cut short by Jhulan in the first ball of the 38th over.
Check out how Twitter reacted:
Girls ko Chase Pasand hai.
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) July 23, 2017
229 to win the World Cup !#WWC17Final
#JhulanGoswami faatafaati champion
— shishir hattangadi (@shishhattangadi) July 23, 2017
Seriously haven't seen an international bowler hold line and length so beautifully, so consistently in a v. long time. #JhulanGoswami
— Sabbah Haji Baji (@imsabbah) July 23, 2017
Jhulan be lyk... #WWC17Final pic.twitter.com/vUvuvNEz2K
— Sabbah Haji Baji (@imsabbah) July 23, 2017
Jhulan Goswami is so trustworthy that no one can ever have trust issues with her
— Ra_Bies (@Ra_Bies) July 23, 2017
#Jhulan Goswami is the @gianluigibuffon of Indian cricket. Always consistent. Always focused. Ageless. #IndianWomensCricketTeam
— rupayan bhattacharya (@rupayanb) July 23, 2017
Keep going strong Jhulan. A perfect ball for someone especially after good partnership. Smart thinking. #INDvsENG #WWC17Final
— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 23, 2017
And that is the icing on the cake!! Yorker first up to a batsman standing well back in her crease. Hence, Jhulan.
— Prem Panicker (@prempanicker) July 23, 2017
Oh there you go — Jhulan’s return gets the wicket. Rather odd way to get it — Taylor was eying the four there, but India’ll take it.
— Prem Panicker (@prempanicker) July 23, 2017
Jhulan Goswami what a legend.. so economical #WomensWorldCup
— मेहरान MUFC(@mehranzaidi) July 23, 2017
This is why I love Jhulan.
— Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) July 23, 2017
The catch did not happen. A smile. Then calmly get back to the mark.
No exasperation.#WWC17 #WWCFinal
Facebook never fails to cheer our Women's Cricket team pic.twitter.com/6U2FpaUUck
— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) July 23, 2017