Jess Jonassen says she thrived on the opportunity to bowl at the death in Australia’s Women’s T20 World Cup semifinal win over India.
Key points:
- Jonassen conceded just four runs and took a wicket in the 19th over of India’s run chase
- She was playing her first match since Australia’s tournament opener
- Australia will face South Africa in the final
Australia won by just five runs at Newlands in Cape Town, thanks in part to a clutch performance from Jonassen in the penultimate over of India’s run chase.
India needed 20 runs for victory in the final 12 deliveries, but it could only manage four off Jonassen’s over, which also yielded the prized wicket of Sneh Rana (11).
The left-arm spinner’s effort took pressure off teammate Ash Gardner, who bowled the final over and helped restrict India to 8-167 in its innings.
Australia will play South Africa in the final on Monday morning AEDT after the hosts defeated England by six runs.
Jonassen — who took 1-22 from three overs against India —had been recalled for the semifinal clash after being left out of the Australia XI since the opening match of its World Cup title defence.
She said she relished the chance to bowl to the Indians when they still had a strong chance of claiming victory.
“My clarity of thought in that over was so clear and I just knew where I wanted to bowl the ball, where I wanted it to land,” she told ABC Sport.
“I just wanted to try and give Ash as many runs [for India to chase] as possible for that last over. I really enjoy bowling in those moments.”
Jonassen described the match against India as “one of the best wins” she had been involved in during her time with the national squad.
She said self-belief underpinned Australia’s victory.
“There were a few different moments during that game where we were pretty much down and out, and probably halfway on the plane back home,” Jonassen said.
“It just shows the resilience of our group and the belief within that we could win from any position.”
Jonassen added: “It’s just having that inner belief and that exposure to those situations time and time again. People have come into the international set-up already having experienced some of those high-pressure situations as part of our domestic structure as well.”
She said Australia took pride in its “calmness under pressure”.
“The calmer you are, the more likely you are going to make clearer decisions under pressure and that was something heading into that semifinal that we identified,” Jonassen said.
“If we stayed calm in those big moments then we were more likely to win those.”
Australia will be contesting its seventh consecutive Women’s T20 World Cup final when it faces South Africa.
The Australians have won five titles, including the past two.
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