WATCH: Anjum Chopra consoles an emotional Harmanpreet Kaur after India's T20 World Cup exit

India gave a tough fight to defending champions Australia but bowed out of the Women's T20 World Cup 2023, in South Africa, with a five-run loss in the first semi-final on Thursday (February 23). Being asked to bowl first, India were rusty as Australia rode on Beth Mooney's 54, captain Mag Lanning's 49* and Ashleigh Gardener's 31 to post 172-4. In reply, India were on course courtesy of Harmanpreet Kaur-Jemimah Rodrigues' 69-run fourth-wicket stand but fell apart to manage 167/8.

After India lost three quick wickets and were tottering at 28for 3 in pursuit of 173, in Newlands, Cape Town, skipper Harmanpreet and Jemimah revived the run-chase with a confident stand. The duo were going well when Jemimah fell for a good-looking 43, off 24 balls, before the Indian captain got run-out in an unfortunate manner, for a 34-ball 52. After her dismissal, India fell from 133-5, still in a good position with only 40 required off 32 balls, to get restricted for 167 for 8. Hence, the Indian skipper was in tears after the contest.

Anjum Chopra, the former Indian women's captain, met Harmanpreet after the game and hugged a teary-eyed swashbuckling batter. Here's the heartwarming video:

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Anjum spoke about the moment after the match and said, "My intention was to give the captain some empathy because that's all I can offer from the outside. It was an emotional moment for both of us. India have reached the semi-finals a lot of times and they have lost. This is not the first time I've seen Harmanpreet bat like this. I have seen her battling her injuries and health."

Also Read:WATCH: Harmanpreet Kaur throws her bat after being run out in T20 World Cup semi-final vs Australia

At the post-match presser, Harmanpreet said, "If my bat didn't get stuck, that run would have easily happened. If I had stayed till the last moment, the game would have finished an over before given the momentum we had. But even after that, Deepti Sharma was there, Richa Ghosh was there. I had belief that they could get the job done. If you have seen the matches till now, Richa had batted brilliantly. But after my dismissal, there were seven or eight dot balls and that was the turning point of the match. Otherwise, we had good momentum and things were going well."

Under Harman, India once again fell to lift the T20 WC title despite reaching the knockouts. In 2018, they lost the semi-finals whereas the Women in Blue reached the finale in the previous edition before once again bowing out of the showpiece event in the last four round.