How to spoil a party - the Indian Women way

As the players of both sides strode out to the middle, the mood in the ground was that of a party, one that the country of Australia had waited long to host. As the national anthems of the two countries played, there were people in the crowd belting out “Advance Australia Fair”, the national anthem of Australia, on the top of their voices with utmost passion, almost in an attempt to intimidate the Indian players. Once the anthems were over and done with, a loud roar erupted, almost symbolically representing that the party had officially begun. But the record crowd of 13,432 people in Sydney had little idea that the Women in Blue were not out there to be good guests and enjoy the party, but rather, to instead spoil it. 

But you could sense something was wrong. Even with the score 40/0 after 4 overs, even after Strano dropped a sitter, there were no anxious faces in the Australian camp. It was almost as if they knew that this was a part of the script and that they were waiting for the right moment to crush Indian hopes. And so when India lost three wickets for the span of just six runs - the three big ones of Shefali, Mandhana and Harmanpreet - it felt like the party had truly begun. People in the crowd were sipping their beers more gleefully, many were even vibing to the tunes played by the DJ and even the players, on the field, sported smiles on their faces and had this laid back, ‘we got this, this is what we’ve been waiting for’ attitude. 

The peak for Australia came when Alyssa Healy found her touch with the bat. The Alyssa Healy who’d scored a total of 15 runs in the 5 T20I matches that preceded this one, all of a sudden, had found her golden touch, was middling everything and the sound of the ball off her bat was sweeter than a thunderbolt left-footed strike of Lukas Podolski crashing into the top bins. There were even premature celebrations in the crowd because, let’s face it - you just don’t beat Australia when they’re in this kind of a mood. 

But that’s where the 13,000 and so people were wrong. Little did they know that the Indian Women, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, had set foot on to the Sydney Showground Stadium to show the world that “DON'TS” do not exist. You don’t lose the toss against Australia and start the match off firing from all cylinders. You don’t post a below-par first-inning total in Sydney and end up convincingly winning the match by 17 runs. You don’t abruptly cut Allysa Healy’s innings short after she’s raced off to her fifty. You don’t dismiss Ellyse Perry for a golden duck in front of her home crowd. You don’t get eight Aussie batsmen out for single-digit scores and finally, you just don’t beat Australia in their own backyard by taming them with spin. Yet, the Indian Women had the audacity to do all that. 

But it lasted long. It went on forever. Poonam just did not stop - not even after the 20th shot. It was almost as if she slowed the pace on her deliveries on purpose so as to give the batsmen a good, hard look at the bullet that eventually kills them. And when she accounted for the wicket of Jess Jonassen in the 14th over, it was when the realization struck Australia that maybe, just maybe, India were not there to enjoy the party, but hijack it.

By the time they realized it, though, it was too late. By the 17th over, there were no firecrackers, nor were there any folks sipping on beers; there were just a bunch of anxious faces - both in the stands and in the dugout - who had their hands on their head. And at 22.10 PM local time, when Shikha Pandey took the bails off to dismiss Molly Strano, the worst nightmare of 13,000 people came true. India, right in front of their eyes, had hijacked the party and pilfered victory. What started as a dazzling night with fancy lights and promised so much, alas, ended as a bad trip with the lights out.