"We could have definitely finished the match one over earlier" - Harmanpreet Kaur rues getting out at the wrong time

India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur believes they could've defeated Australia with one over to spare had she not been unlucky with her dismissal in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup semi-final in Cape Town on Thursday, February 23.

Just when it looked like Harmanpreet would take India home, she got run out in the most unfamiliar way in the 15th over, which helped the Aussies crawl back into the game.

The Punjab all-rounder was slowly jogging her way back for the second run. But her bat got stuck before the crease and her feet were in the air when an alert Alyssa Healy dislodged the bails.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Harmanpreet reckoned that she would've easily won the match for her side had she not got run out.

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"Yes, because I think if my bat didn't get stuck and I would've easily finished that run, she said. "I think if I had stayed till the last moment, we could have definitely finished the match one over earlier as we had the momentum."

The Indian skipper felt the next few overs where Australia squeezed a few dot deliveries changed the game in their opponents' favor.

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"But even after that, you know, Deepti was there, Richa was there," she continued. "I had a self-belief that they can do it too because Richa has also batted well in all the matches till now. But I think after I got out, we played 7-8 dot balls in the middle and the match turned there. Otherwise, we had a good momentum and the match was going well."

However, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh failed to get going as India succumbed to a five-run defeat to crash out of the semi-finals.

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"We needed eight runs in one over from the start" - Harmanpreet Kaur on discussions with Jemimah Rodrigues

Chasing 173 runs, India were in a spot of bother, losing three wickets within four overs. But Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodrigues bailed India out of danger with a 69-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Throwing light on the discussions while both of them were batting, the senior cricketer said:

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"Like Jemmy and I had a partnership, we were talking that we just have to stay positive and convert the loose balls into boundaries. We needed eight runs in one over from the start, so that calculation was on our mind and we were batting keeping that in mind.

"I think I got a good response from Jemmy too. She was looking very positive and it felt really good when your partner responds positively and meets the ball. So, you get to learn a lot while standing on the non-striker end and you feel very positive. So, I think the partnership had brought momentum towards us and we wanted to continue that. I think my run-out was a turning point."

Darcie Brown and Ashleigh Gardner picked up two wickets each to restrict India to 167/8 to win the match by five runs and make it to their seventh consecutive final.

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