Perry says even the Aussie dressing room would applaud Harman and Jemi

Even in defeat, Ellyse Perry could only nod in admiration.

The Australian all-rounder hailed India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues for batting India into the World Cup final, saying their composure under pressure earned applause even from their dressing room.

India recorded the highest run chase in women’s ODI to set up Sunday’s title clash with South Africa.

Perry said the Australian dressing room would acknowledge the efforts of India captain Harmanpreet (89) and Jemimah (127 not out).

“It’s really easy to stand here in retrospect and throw ideas into the wind,” she replied when asked if Australia could have done anything differently.

“But at the end of the day, all of us in our dressing room would applaud Harman and Jemi for the way that they played, the way that they went about that chase after probably losing two early wickets in the power play.”

“They just made us pay. All credit goes to them as opposed to anything that we did or didn’t do,” Perry added while talking to media after the intense game.

She said Australia would neither discuss two dropped catches of Jemimah, on 82 and 106, which allowed India to mount a challenge.

“For all of us, the intent is to always fight and to take on the challenge and be there until the game’s done. So as long as you’re giving all your effort, that’s all you can do, and it is sport at the end of the day.

“At the end of the day, everyone’s out there doing absolutely everything they can to perform. You never want to make mistakes, but when you’re playing in high-pressure situations and there’s a lot on the line, things happen.”

“For us, I don’t think we ever talk about it. You just move on straight away. Everyone’s doing absolutely all they can. Sometimes those things happen and no one means it, and we’re just there to support each other,” Perry added.

Perry scored 77 while putting on 155 runs with Phoebe Litchfield (119) to provide Australia a strong platform.

“I think my innings is pretty irrelevant. But at the end of the day, yeah, like in big matches, across two teams there’s so much talent and so much experience and exceptional performance so someone’s going to have a day out at least.”

“From our side, Phoebe was just phenomenal. I thought the way Ash (Ashleigh Gardner) finished the innings was brilliant as well. She’s been unbelievable. But then on the flip side, that partnership between Harman and Jemi was special and they made it count in their home conditions,” she said.

Perry also refused to state any excuses for Australia’s loss in the semifinal, which is their first in World Cup tournaments since a defeat to India at a similar stage during the 2017 edition.

“You can’t walk away with excuses from a loss in the semifinal because at the end of the day, you need to be able to perform on the day that matters the most.”

“But at the same time, we can be super proud of the style of cricket that we’ve played throughout this tournament, and even across the last 12 months. We’re all really committed to that, the way we go about it,” the venerable all-rounder added.

Australia head coach Shelley Nitschke, meanwhile, did not read much into the impending transition phase which could see skipper Alyssa Healy and even Perry moving away from the ODI set up.

“Those two are still contributing really well and it is up to them how much longer they go for. (It was) a disappointing result tonight, we’ve still got a big summer coming out for us, so there’s a lot of cricket to play still,” she said.

Healy, though, confirmed that she would not be around for the next ODI World Cup.

“That’s probably not something that we’ve discussed too much before, obviously, (we have) just been focussing on the World Cup and having thought that too far ahead around that sort of transition,” Nitschke added.