ICC Women's World Cup 2017: Deepti Sharma's invisible rise in India's semi-final win against Australia
Deepti Sharma stands at the non-striker’s end looking down at the turf. Harmanpreet Kaur from the other end is screaming at her, but Deepti is not looking at her. The 19-year-old Indian all-rounder has made a mistake that may cost her team a wicket and now she is facing the wrath of Kaur.
Batting on 98, Kaur pushes a delivery to midwicket and decides to come back for the second run as the fielder in the deep is slow to the ball. But, Deepti, Kaur’s partner, is watching the ball, unaware of Kaur’s urgency. She realises her mistake only when Kaur is halfway down the pitch for the second run. She scrambles and survives only because the throw is aimed at the wicket-keeper’s end.
Kaur completes her hundred but Deepti feels guilty.
The left-hand batter finishes her innings, scoring 25 runs from 35 balls and only one boundary. At the other end, Kaur blasts 171 runs off 115 balls. An innings that makes the 25 runs look inconsequential and invisible.
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Deepti bowls one down the leg side. It is not just a wide, it is a big wide. It misses the batter and the wicketkeeper to race away to the fence. The off-spinner gifts Australia five extra runs. In the same over, she offers Villani a tossed-up delivery which the batsman smashes over covers for a four. The over costs 14 runs, allowing Australia to break the shackles.
In her next over, she leaks 11 runs.
In Sharma’s seventh over, Alex Blackwell smashes a flighted ball over long-on for a four. The next ball is even better; it sails over long on for a gigantic six. 12 runs from the over. Australia manage to stay alive in the chase.
In her seven overs, Deepti concedes 59 runs. India are fantastic on the day but Deepti is that one tiny part of the unit that has gone horribly wrong.
For India, this semifinal is a memorable match but for Deepti, it is a nightmare. Her strike rate is not impressive, she gets an earful from a senior partner in front of the whole world and now she allows Australia to cut loose with her not-so-dangerous bowling.
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Australia need 37 runs from 12 balls. Blackwell is smashing the ball to all parts of the ground. Shikha Pandey, India’s go to bowler in such situations cannot bowl. Reluctantly Mithali Raj asks Deepti to bowl the penultimate over. It is a risk.
And the risk pays off on the first ball. The 19-year-old doesn’t flight the ball, she keeps it straight and flat, making it impossible for Blackwell to get underneath the ball. The batter misses the slog and her stumps are dismantled.
The bowler gets it right and India are through to the finals.
Deepti's economy rate is 8.23, the worst among all Indian frontline bowlers and her balls per boundary ratio (35) is also the worst among all the batters in the match.
But for India, the off-spinner's numbers don’t matter. Even after leaking more than eight runs per over and scoring only one boundary in 35 balls, she is one of the star performers.
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The Indian all-rounder may have scored just one four in her entire innings but she added 137 runs with Kaur. She came to the crease when India were tottering at 101 for four. She brought stability into the innings and that allowed Kaur to explode.
The pair scored 137 runs in 82 balls. Deepti was the invisible but essential part of this partnership.
In Australia’s innings, she came to bowl in the eighth over and got rid of the dangerous Bolton with a tossed up delivery. She was smashed by the Australians in every over, but the off-spinner kept on tossing the ball in the air, forcing the batters into mistakes.
Schutt made one such mistake and was out caught by Goswami. Blackwell was surprised by a delivery that skidded off the surface. In the bowling department, Deepti was expensive but she ensured Australia paid the price for hitting her. She ended with three wickets.
For a 19-year-old girl, featuring in a World Cup semi-final is in itself an achievement but the Indian all-rounder went one step ahead. During her batting, she was tied down by the opposition, and was on the receiving end of some tough words from her team mate while with the ball, she was taken to the cleaners.
But she rose above all that. She fought and rescued India, picking up the most wickets in the process.
The Harmanpreet Hurricane may have left a larger than life stamp on this semi-final but the teenager with her all-around skills ensured she too took home a piece of the prize.