ICC WWC 2025: Harmanpreet Kaur reveals turning point in India’s loss to England

India Women suffered a narrow four-run defeat to England Women in the 20th match of the ICC Women's ODI World Cup 2025 at Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Sunday, October 19.

Delving into the details of the game, England Women batted first and posted 288/8 in 50 overs. Heather Knight was the top scorer with 109 runs in 91 balls with 15 fours and one six. Deepti Sharma was the star bowler for India, scalping a four-wicket haul.

In response, the Indian Women were in the driver's seat for the majority of the chase. Smriti Mandhana (88), Harmanpreet Kaur (70), and Deepti Sharma (50) played vital knocks in the second innings.

However, the lower middle-order batters failed to live up to expectations as they collapsed from 234/3 in 41.1 overs to 262/6, losing the plot completely. Eventually, they suffered a four-run defeat. 

“I think Smriti's wicket was something which was a turning point for us and I still think we had too many batters. I don't know how things went the other way, but credit goes to England. They kept bowling well and kept getting wickets there,” Harmanpreet Kaur said at the post-match presentation.

“It (the feeling) is bad because you have put in so much hard work and you kept ticking the box till the end, but last 5-6 overs didn't go according to your plan. That's the worst but definitely it's a very heartbreaking moment,” she added.

“We are playing good cricket, we are not giving up. But that last line we have to cross now because it's been the last three games where we showed up with good cricket. But unfortunately ended up on the losing side and hopefully the next game is very important for us and we'll cross that line,” she stated.

“Our bowlers did a really good job because when Nat and Heather were batting, they were looking really good. And we thought if we can get them to less than 300, that's a plus for us because this pitch and the ground is very fast and we can chase, that's why we wanted to bowl first,” she noted.

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