“Always the bridesmaid. Never the bride” - Mixed emotions among Twitterati as India Women choke in Commonwealth Games 2022 final against Australia Women

India Women lost to Australia Women by nine runs in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 cricket final and thus had to settle for the silver medal. This was the third heartbreak for India Women in a major final over the last five years.

They went down to England Women by nine runs in the 2017 World Cup final (50-over) at Lord’s. India Women also reached the 2020 T20 World Cup final, only to be crushed by Australia Women by 85 runs in Melbourne.

Chasing 162 for victory in the CWG 2022 cricket competition final in Birmingham on Sunday (August 7), India Women seemed to be cruising at one stage. They were 118 for two in the 15th over. However, they lost eight wickets for 34 runs to be bowled out for 152 in 19.3 overs.

There were mixed emotions among fans on Twitter as India Women choked in another final. While some questioned their ability to deal with pressure on the grand stage, others sympathized with them and hailed the girls for making the country proud with their overall performance.

Here are some Twitter reactions to India Women's heartbreaking defeat in the CWG 2022 cricket competition final:

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How India Women lost the chance to clinch gold in Commonwealth Games 2022

Set to chase 162, India Women recovered from 22 for two, courtesy of a 96-run third-wicket stand between skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (65 off 43) and Jemimah Rodrigues (33 off 33). The crucial partnership was broken when Megan Schutt cleaned up Rodrigues.

In the next over, Ashleigh Gardner (3/16) dismissed Harmanpreet and Pooja Vastrakar (one). The Indian captain attempted a scoop, but only managed to lob a simple catch. Sneh Rana (eight) and Radha Yadav (one) succumbed to pressure and got run out.

Deepti Sharma was then trapped lbw for 13 by Schutt as the chasing side were reduced to 149 for eight. Needing 11 off the last over, Meghna Singh was run out for one.

Yastika Bhatia (two), who came in as a concussion substitute for Taniya Bhatia, was trapped lbw by Jess Jonassen as Australia Women completed a terrific comeback to clinch gold in the CWG 2022 cricket competition.