OTD: When Harmanpreet Kaur's Dazzling 171* Knocked AUS Out Of World Cup

Harmanpreet Kaur in action Vs AUS [X] Harmanpreet Kaur in action Vs AUS [X]

On this day in 2017, the world witnessed arguably one of the finest knocks in a World Cup match. India Women collided with Australia Women in the semi-finale. The Aussies were firm favourites to win the match and India needed something special to stop their run.

Harmanpreet ran riot Vs AUS

Batting first against a strong Aussie bowling attack, Indian side were jolted with the early wickets of Smriti Mandhana and Punam Raut. With the team in trouble, Harmanpreet joined hands with skipper Mithali Raj and started the repair work.

Interestingly, Harmanpreet was battling with injuries before the game and found it hard to take singles and doubles. Her first 19 runs came at a strike-rate of 50, and then she decided to accelerate as her half-century came in 64 deliveries.

She slowed down a bit as India had lost Mithali Raj at a crucial juncture, however, once the right-handed batter crossed the 80-run mark, she went berserk and started to take down the Australian attack. It started raining sixes as Harman breached the 100-run mark in no time.

Alongside Deepti Sharma, she added 137 runs in just 87 balls, out of which the dashing Indian batter smashed 106 in just 48 deliveries as India slammed 281/4 inside 42 overs.

IND seal finale place rather easily

In reply, Australia, too, lost 3 early wickets as India sensed an easy win. However, Alex Blackwell (90) and Ellyse Villani (75) made sure that the Australian team were always in the contest.

 However, the wicket of Blackwell changed the course of this match as India held their nerves and bundled out the Aussies for 245 to seal their place in the semis.