DERBY (United Kingdom), July 20: Harmanpreet Kaur produced one of greatest-ever ODI knocks in women�s cricket as India stormed into the ICC World Cup final, demolishing Australia by 36 runs in the semi-final, here today.
It is only the second time that India have entered the summit clash of the global event, having lost to Australia in the final of the 2005 edition.
Skipper Mithali Raj and senior pacer Jhulan Goswami were part of the Indian team which had lost then in Centurion.
The �Women In Blue� will meet hosts England in the final at the Lord�s on Sunday.
The Indian vice-captain smashed her way to a career-best magical 171 off 115 balls, leaving the Australian bowlers in a daze as India put up an imposing 281 for 4 after rain reduced the match to 42-overs a side.
This was India�s highest-ever total against the Southern Stars and proved to be match-winning even as Alex Blackwell�s power-packed 90 took them to 245 in 40.1 overs.
The day belonged to Harmanpreet as her innings could well be termed as one which will be remembered for years to come. It drew comparisons with Kapil Dev�s historic 175 against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells during the 1983 campaign with members of the men�s team, including skipper Virat Kohli, showering accolades on her.
SCORECARD
India Women Innings: Smriti Mandhana c Villani b Schutt 6, Punam Raut c Mooney b Gardner 14, Mithali Raj b Beams 36, Harmanpreet Kaur not out 171, Deepti Sharma b Villani 25, Veda Krishnamurthy not out 16; Extras: (W-9, NB-1, LB-3) 13; Total: (For 4 wickets in 42 Overs) 281; Fall of Wickets: 6-1, 35-2, 101-3, 238-4; Bowler: Megan Schutt 9-0-64-1, Ellyse Perry 9-1-40-0, Jess Jonassen 7-0-63-0, Ashleigh Gardner 8-0-43-1, Kristen Beams 8-0-49-1, Elyse Villani 1-0-19-1.
Australia Women Innings: NE Bolton c & b Sharma 14, BL Mooney b Pandey 1, MM Lanning (c) b Goswami 0, EA Perry c Verma b Pandey 38, EJ Villani c Mandhana b Gayakwad 75, AJ Blackwell b Sharma 90, AJ Healy c Pandey b Goswami 5, A Gardner c Raj b Poonam Yadav 1, JL Jonassen run out (Goswami) 1, ML Schutt c Goswami b Sharma 2, KM Beams not out 11; Extras: (W-6, LB-1) 7; Total: (All out in 40.1 Overs) 245; Fall of wickets:1-4, 2-9, 3-21, 4-126, 5-140, 6-148, 7-152, 8-154, 9-169, 10-245; Bowler: J Goswami 8.0-0-35-2, S Pandey 6.0-1-17-2, DB Sharma 7.1-0-59-3, RS Gayakwad 9.0-0-62-1, Poonam Yadav 9.0-0-60-1, V Krishnamurthy 1.0-0-11-0. � PTI
