'Don't Want My Country To See Me Crying': Harmanpreet Kaur On Why She Wore Sunglasses After Heart-Breaking Loss To Australia

India came close but eventually lost to the five-time champions Australia by 5 runs.

Harmanpreet Kaur played through a sickness to bring India close but her half-century wasn't enough to help the team cross the line. ( Image Source :Twitter/@RoshanKrRaii )

Indian women's cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur was disappointed after Team India once again fell short against Australia in a knockout match of the ICC tournament. While the Women in Blue had conceded 172 runs after being asked to bowl first and lost 3 wickets in the first 4 overs of their innings, the captain led from the front as her half-century (52 off 34) brought India close.

However, a bizarre run out of the 33-year-old during a crunch moment in the fixture, ended her stay in the middle after which the lower-order batters tried but eventually, India succumbed to a 5-run defeat against the five-time champions.

Following the defeat, Harmanpreet was spotted donning sunglasses and when she was asked the reason for the same, she said that she doesn't want India to see her crying.

"I don't want my country to see my crying, hence I am wearing these glasses, I promise, we will improve and won't let out nation down like this again," Harmanpreet said during the post-match presentation.

“The way I got run out, (it) can't be unluckier than that. Putting the effort was important and we were happy to go to the last ball. We wanted to fight till the last ball,” she added.

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"Can't feel unluckier than this. We got the momentum back with Jemi (Rodrigues). To lose from here, we weren't expecting this,” she said.

Ashleigh Gardner was the Player of the match in this contest for her all-round performance. She not only provided the impetus to the Australian innings with her 18-ball 31 but later came back to scalp 2 wickets. In fact, it was Gardner who was trusted with the responsibility of defending 16 in the last over which she did successfully, also picking up the wicket of Radha Yadav. 

She had got the better of Smriti Mandhana in her opening spell.