On Thursday, Harmanpreet Kaur walked in to bat when her team was struggling in the Women's World Cup final against Australia in Derby. India were two wickets down for just 35 runs in a match that had been curtailed to 42 overs per side.
Being the lower ranked side in Thursday's semi-final, it would have been easy to succumb to pressure. But Kaur had other plans. She had only scored 137 runs in the previous seven matches in the World Cup, but rose to the occasion when it really mattered.
The 28-year-old took more than 40 balls to score her first 25 runs but speeded up to reach her fifty in 64 balls. Kaur was picking quick singles and scoring boundaries, but in a more calculated manner. Once she crossed the fifty-run mark, all hell broke loose.
In the 35th over, Kaur narrowly survived a run out attempt following a mix-up with Deepti Sharma. That second run she was looking for also got her a century.
With seven overs to go, Kaur cut loose and played in a way that would have impressed her idol, Virender Sehwag, the explosive former India opener who was known to go all guns blazing.
She scored 103 runs off the last 40 balls she played at a strike rate of more than 257. Her unbeaten score of 171 helped India post a challenging total of 281.
Early days
Born in Moga, in the heart of Punjab, Kaur would travel to a school 30 kilometres away every day. That is where her cricketing journey started.
By the time she was 20 years old, she had already made her Women's One Day International (WODI) debut for India. It was a big game against Pakistan in the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia.
The same year she also played her first Twenty20 International in the 2009 ICC Women's World Twenty20 in England.
In the absence of captain Mithali Raj and vice-captain Jhulan Goswami, Kaur was chosen to lead the side in the 2012 Women's World Twenty20 Asia Cup final, which India went on to win.
By then, her ability to hit the cricket ball hard and far had earned her a reputation in world cricket.
Having established herself, Kaur was chosen yet again to lead the side, this time in the WODIs for a full series against Bangladesh.
Owing to the lack of Test cricket played by women, her debut in the longer format was delayed until 2014.
Last year turned out to be another good one for her as she helped India win the T20I series in Australia and was India's highest run-scorer in the 2016 World Twenty20.
The same year she became the first woman cricketer from India to play in an overseas Twenty20 franchise, Sydney Thunder, in the Australian Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).
In an eight-year career, the right hander has scored 3,223 runs in international cricket across formats and has picked 43 wickets.
Given the context of Thursday's match, her knock will remain etched in history as one of the greatest ever. Fans would be hoping for a repeat of Thursday's show at Lord's on Sunday when India take on the hosts for the coveted trophy.
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