This week was the 8th anniversary of The Harman Monster – Harmanpreet Kaur’s 171 not out against Australia in the 2017 World Cup semifinal at Derby.
So how do you top the greatest individual performance of all time? Especially coming of a run of 12 OIDs when you’ve failed to pass 50? The answer is that you don’t. You can’t. The headline lied to you. Sorry. This was not Harman Harder.
But it was still brutal; and it was still brilliant.
On her last visit to Chester-le-Street three years ago, Harmanpreet scored just 20 and ended up literally raging against the dying of the light – fuming about the conditions as India were thrashed on a freezing cold September evening. Today, the weather gods looked more kindly upon cricket’s most northerly stadium. The forecast threatened rain; but by the end of India’s innings rays of sunshine were breaking through the clouds and England batted under blue skies framed in fluffy white.
So India had the worst of the conditions, such as they were – not awful, but not the ones you’d choose, all things being equal. (That they did choose them, with England having lost the toss for the first time this tour, was doubtless based on the assumption that the gloomy forecast was correct!)
England brought back their big gun – Lauren Filer – in place of Em Arlott; and perhaps more interestingly Alice Davidson-Richards for Maia Bouchier. There’s an interesting juxtaposition between these selections. Yin: ADR, the steady hand who won’t let you down; and Yang: Filer, the loose cannon who might roll the opposition… or blow up in your face.
The concern with Filer is not that she isn’t capable of a game-changing spell; but that she is more Laura Harris than Grace. Laura is the bigger threat on her day; but there is a reason why Grace is the one that has fifty caps for Australia whilst Laura has none, and it is that Laura’s day doesn’t come around very often.
Today was not Filer’s day; and nor was it Lauren Bell’s. Neither were awful; but they failed to make a breakthrough in the powerplay, and India accumulated efficiently enough, reaching 46-0 after 8 overs via Smriti and Pratika Rawal. With the quicks looking ineffective, England turned to Sophie Ecclestone and Charlie Dean for the last two overs of the powerplay, with the pair bowling 12 overs in tandem through the Early Middle phase. It pegged India back as they lost both openers, but crucially Harmanpreet in particular didn’t panic when she arrived at the crease, playing out 10 dots before scoring her first runs off Linsey Smith, having seen off Ecclestone and Dean.
The battle Harmanpreet was fighting wasn’t really against England, it was against herself – staying focused; staying in the zone. After every 4 – even the ones that were 4 right off the bat – she trotted down to the other end and touched her bat in, before returning to face the next delivery. It was completely pointless, but if it kept her centred, and kept her in the game, that’s what mattered.
At the 40-over mark, it still could have been an ordinary game. Harman was on 57 off 60 balls (ie. a Strike Rate of 95) and India were heading for 250. 275 if they executed well in the last 10.
Then Harman pressed the DRS button. No – not that DRS, but the one from F1 – Drag Reduction System which allows the driver a momentary power-boost. She used hers to score a further 45 runs from 24 balls, rocketing India past 300 with her 7th ODI century. That it wasn’t as good as the third is splitting hairs.
How do you go about chasing over 300? As with chasing 200 in a T20, it has now been done – by Sri Lanka to South Africa last year – who did it by getting ahead of the rate early on, and staying there, thanks to an innings of 195* from Chamari Athapaththu.
England’s approach was closer to that which India had taken to put 300 on the board in the first place – accumulate steadily through the middle overs, keep wickets in hand, and hope to capitalise at the death. And there were moments when it felt… plausible. With Nat Sciver-Brunt and Emma Lamb going well, at the 30 over mark England were 168-2 – 21 runs ahead of where India had been at 147-2.
But once that pair were dismissed – NSB two runs short of what could have been a record 4th ODI century in a losing cause – it would have needed someone else to come in and do something spectacular. And spectacular is exactly what Alice Davidson-Richards, coming in at 6, was not picked for. She gave it a go – making 44 off 34 – and England did get over 300, thanks to a first ever international 6 from Lauren Bell, who was clearly as surprised as anyone with it!
But with two balls remaining, England’s No. 11 swung again only to find the hands of… who else… Harmanpreet Kaur at extra cover.
Ultimately, England had left themselves with just too much to do in that Death phase, with India taking the win and the series 2-1.
For India, 21-year-old Kranti Goud finished with 6-52 in just her 4th ODI – doing what England’s seamers could not – taking wickets, including a bit of a Magic Ball to dismiss Tammy Beaumont, which seemed to go straight through the England opener. Laurens Bell and Filer between them have played 43 ODIs between them, and not achieved that – their collective best being Lauren Bell’s 5-37 v New Zealand last summer. Prior to this tour, a lot of the talk was about how India’s fast bowling options would be limited, with Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar and Titas Sadhu all injured. Now one or two of them might be worrying about getting their place back for the World Cup. That’s the depth that India are developing.
Charlotte Edwards said in the post-series press conference that getting to the final of the World Cup would be a good achievement for England. For India, with the form they are in, it should be the minimum.
