CWG 2022: “Take a bow India Women”- Fans erupt as Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. defeat England Women in thriller to reach final

India Women on Saturday (August 6) booked their place in the finals of the Commonwealth Games (CWG 2022), defeating England women by four runs in a thrilling finish in the semi-final at Edgbaston.

While Smriti Mandhana inspired the side by smashing the fastest fifty for India in T20Is, Sneh Rana kept her nerves to finish the job for the Indian women in the final over. The Women in Blue will now lock horns with the winner of the Australia Women vs New Zealand Women match in the finals on Sunday (August 7).

Fans quickly took notice of the brilliant performance of the Indian women, who are now assured of at least a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games. Here are some of the reactions on Twitter:

Smriti Mandhana and Sneh Rana guide India Women to Final

India Women had a fiery start in the semi-final as Smriti Mandhana took on the England Women's bowlers from the get-go. She hit 61 runs off 32 balls, which included eight boundaries and three sixes.

The southpaw shared a crucial opening stand of 76 runs with Shafali Verma (15). The Women in Blue found themselves in a spot of bother after Shafali and Mandhana were dismissed in quick succession, reducing the team to 77/2 in 8.3 overs.

Thereafter, captain Harmanpreet Kaur (20) and Jemimah Rodrigues (44* off 31 balls) steadied the ship to take India Women past the 100-run mark.

Following Harmanpreet's dismissal off Freya Kemp's bowling in the 14th over, Deepti Sharma (20) joined Jemimah to propel India Women to 164 runs in their 20 overs.

Chasing 165, Sophia Dunkley and Danielle Wyatt provided a brisk start to England Women. Deepti provided the first breakthrough as she removed Dunkley for 19 runs in the third over.

Alice Capsey looked good for her 13, but her presence was cut short by an exceptional run-out from Rana. Skipper Natalie Sciver then joined Wyatt in the run chase before the latter too was dismissed by Rana for 35.

Wicket-keeper Amy Jones (31) shared a crucial partnership with Sciver, but another run-out spoiled the day for the English women.

With 27 runs required off the final two overs, Sciver hit a six off Pooja Vastrakar in the penultimate over before stealing four leg byes to keep the hosts in the hunt. As luck would have it, the English skipper was dismissed off the very next ball, allowing the Women in Blue to come back into the game.

Rana thereafter held her nerves to defend 14 runs in the final over to gift her team a slender four-run victory in the match.