Australia has again demonstrated how to win games under pressure, crushing India’s hopes of winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2022. Ashleigh Gardner provided an extraordinary plot twist by removing Pooja Vastrakar and Harmanpreet Kaur off successive deliveries with India needing 44 from 30 and seven wickets in hand.

With one foot in the door, Australia pounced, squeezing the lower middle order to win by nine runs as India lost their final eight wickets for 34 runs. Harmanpreet Singh, whose 43-ball 65 had put India in a match-winning position, remained immobile in the dugout, as did the rest of the team, which had to settle for silver.

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However, Australia, the 50-overs, and T20 World Cup winners earned the only distinction they lacked – a gold medal in a multi-sports tournament – to cement their status as the best team in the world.

India gave Alyssa Healy an early reprieve in the T20 World Cup final two years ago, and she responded with a match-winning 39-ball 75. When a thick edge off Renuka Singh flew just outside of where a legitimate slip would be in the opening over of the match, they may have wondered if Healy would make them pay here as well.

Fortunately for them, Harmanpreet Kaur’s outstanding DRS call allowed Renuka to send Healy back in her next over. Ball-tracking indicated that Renuka’s nip-backer, which Healy used all over the field, would have collided with middle and leg stumps.

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Australia didn’t begin to shift gears until the final over of the powerplay, when Meg Lanning edged Renuka down the ground for six in a 13-run over that brought Australia to 43 for 1.

Despite the early setback and a few quiet overs, Lanning and Beth Mooney showed calm, knowing how much damage they could wreak once set. Off the spinners, both hitters efficiently targeted the short straight boundary, raising their half-century stand to 37 balls. Australia scored six boundaries in the ninth and tenth overs, scoring four in a single Harmanpreet over, to reach 83 for 1 at the midway.

After a tight first over in which she conceded only three runs, Radha Yadav made her impression on the game in the 11th over by running Lanning out at the non-end. striker’s When Mooney’s straight hit was disrupted, she immediately reverse-flicked the ball between her legs and onto the stumps with Lanning’s bat in the air.

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Her stalking presence at the point led to a remarkable catch in the next over, when she launched herself full-stretch to eliminate Tahlia McGrath, who played the game despite testing positive for Covid-19.

Gardner deflected any pressure Australia might have felt with some typically forceful strokes, scoring 25 before being stumped by Sneh Rana. Despite losing wickets all around her, Mooney persisted, scoring a half-century in 36 deliveries.

Even when India’s fielders pulled off stunning catches, notably a one-handed back-pedaling catch from Deepti Sharma to remove Mooney and Meghna Singh’s catch running back from mid-on to dismiss the menacing Grace Harris, Australia didn’t let the loss of wickets derail their rhythm. Rachael Haynes pushed Australia over the 160-point mark with an unbeaten 10-ball 18.

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India’s openers were out in the first three overs. Smriti Mandhana was stumped behind her legs while attempting to swing one into the leg side, bringing an end to an innings that began promisingly with blazing off-side strokes, while Shafali waded and holed out two balls after being spared at cover by Megan Schutt.

Harmanpreet looked poised to produce the T20 version of her epic 171* against the same opponents five years after her knock for the ages in the 50-overs World Cup semi-final against Australia.

Harmanpreet Singh came in with India 23 for 2 in the fourth over and resurrected their innings with drives and lofted shots, along with a dive down the pitch for a six over wide long-on off Jess Jonassen in the tenth over. As Australia’s spinners pursued a leg-stump line against her, she began to use the sweep more regularly.

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At the other end, the bat-slapping, fist-pumping Jemimah Rodrigues overcame a sluggish start – she was 1 off 7 at one point – to relieve Harmanpreet’s pressure by hitting regular boundaries in a run-a-ball 33. Their 96-run partnership had reduced the equation to a manageable 44 off 34 when Rodrigues was bowled while attempting to send Schutt across the line.

When Gardner bowled a spectacular second over, she dismissed Vastrakar and Harmanpreet off successive deliveries, Australia’s relief changed into full-fledged excitement. While Vastrakar miscued a pull to deep midwicket, Harmanpreet slipped while trying a paddle and was caught behind by Healy. Gardner’s numbers at the time were a remarkable 2-0-5-3.

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As India’s wickets fell, the strain mounted as batter after batter performed hara-kiri. Deepti Sharma, India’s last hope with 13 off 10, was out lbw to Schutt after Rana and Radha were run out.

It came down to India needing 11 off the last six balls, with Yastika Bhatia, who had replaced wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia due to a concussion, on strike to Jonassen. She ran an incredible second run off the second to keep the strike, leading to Meghna’s run-out at the danger end after turning down a single first ball. Yastika got out lbw attempting a reverse sweep with India needing 10 off four balls.

And just like that, India has fallen excruciatingly short in a worldwide final, exactly like in 2017.