The greatest chase: how India kept their cool amid the drama

As soon as she cut the ball past backward point, Amanjot Kaur exulted. She was hoisted by Jemimah Rodrigues, who then sank to the floor, covered her face and started to tear up. Amanjot just stood there and patted her on the back. Navi Mumbai erupted in joy. The Indian players sprinted to the middle. For those in the dugout, the hugs were the tightest. There were tears of joy.

Beating Australia was one hurdle India had repeatedly failed to cross in knockouts of recent ICC tournaments. Not anymore. India were in the final of the Women's World Cup 2025.

When do you actually go for the kill in a run chase? It forms the crux of our sport. Yet it is one of the most discussed, often debated and dissected, parts of the game - the timing of actually stepping on the pedal. A pure judgement call.

India hadn't got it right against England in Indore. An equation of 36 off 30 became 32 off 24. And then 27 off 18. Amanjot was in the middle then. She tried to take the game deep. But they ran out of time. India needed 23 off 12 balls and 14 off the last over; they lost by four runs. The final kick never arrived.

This recent bit of history made every one of the 34,651 at the DY Patil Stadium - and those watching on the television - on Thursday twitch in their seats. The set Rodrigues, who scored her maiden World Cup century, was just offered a reprieve. India now needed 48 off 36 in their 339-run chase. Richa Ghosh hit Ashleigh Gardner, who she had taken apart in the WPL 2025 season-opener, for a six and a four in the space of three balls.

Annabel Sutherland stood at the top of the mark for her penultimate over. Is there anything she can't do?. She gave away just five runs. More tellingly, she removed Ghosh for the second time in two meetings at this World Cup. The India wicketkeeper's wild swing only resulted in a top edge to backward point.

When Smriti Mandhana had been ruled out caught behind via the DRS, you could hear a pin drop even in one of the noisiest stands at the DY Patil Stadium. The Bucket Hat Cult, a fans' group that enhances stadium experience at women's cricket matches in India, had gone quiet in disbelief. Imagine being in that section of crowd with Amanjot walking in with India needing 7.25 per over.

"Should I charge at the bowlers or will you do so?" was Amanjot's first question to Rodrigues. Both Amanjot and Rodrigues' physique may not scream out power, but they possess the ability to hit mean sixes. But that wasn't the need of the hour.

"She said, we are good runners. Hum nikaal lenge (we will get us home)," Amanjot said after the game. "'You see the ball, the track is nice, and we should do it.' It was a great surface. She said we should finish it with one over to spare."

Australia are one team you wouldn't want to give a sniff. They had one now. Do India have to endure a heartbreak again? The tension was palpable. Stay unmoved. Don't utter a line about the state of the game. Let's not talk about the what-ifs. Instructions were going out left, right, centre. The sounds of keys being hammered away was audible in the media box, deadlines drawing closer and the finish unrelenting.

Sutherland ran in for her tenth over but had to abort her run-up because Amanjot pulled away. A long chant from the crowd. Amanjot then took ran a two and a single on the first two legal deliveries, either side of a wide, and gave strike back to Rodrigues, who has seen a fair bit of Sutherland at Delhi Capitals.

Sutherland's slower ball arrived, Rodrigues was early but she waited and scooped it past the wicketkeeper. And then, after another wide, she hung back to a length ball to slash it past backward point. India had managed to take 15 off the 48th over. Now 8 off 12 was a walk in the park, and Amanjot hit two fours in three balls of the 49th over to set off wild celebrations.

"After Richa fell, the game was in the balance," she said. "I had the England game in my mind where I took the game deep but we were left needing 12 [14], which was too much. I did not want a repeat. If she would have asked me to charge [at the bowler], I would have charged. But she asked me to play carefully, and the pitch was good. We calculated and the nine [15] runs that came from Annabel Sutherland's over helped us greatly."

On the India team sheet, Amanjot was slated to bat at No. 3 and Rodrigues at No. 5. But Rodrigues was informed that she would be one-drop for the day, and within five minutes - and ten balls into the chase - she found herself walking out. It was only a quirk of the day that Amanjot and Rodrigues were in the middle for the photo-finish.