Australia 172 for 4 (Perry 56, Gardner 53*) beat India 170 for 4 (Harmanpreet 56, Mandhana 38, Molineux 2-46) by six wickets
The experienced duo of Ellyse Perry and Ash Gardner aced a tense Australia chase of 171 - the biggest in women's T20 World Cups - in clinical fashion and knocked India out of the tournament in front of a packed house at Lord's. Australia dominated large parts of the game apart from a couple of fielding lapses to keep India in check for nearly 18 overs of their innings before a Harmanpreet Kaur blitz gave them 170, the highest total against Australia at women's T20 World Cups.
Australia hardly stuttered through the chase with steady hands from Phoebe Litchfield and Beth Mooney but needed a stiff 62 runs from the last six. Perry and Gardner went after the India spinners with their half-centuries, found gaps regularly and Gardner cleared the ropes every now and then that quietened the partisan Indian crowd. When they needed 34 from 24, Perry and Gardner took 17 runs off Renuka Singh to bring the equation down to 17 off 18 before Georgia Wareham hit the winning runs.
It's the second T20 World Cup in a row that India didn't make the knockouts after losing their last league game to Australia. India's loss means Australia and South Africa go through from Group A, to meet West Indies and England respectively in the semi-finals on Tuesday and Thursday at The Oval.
Shafali, Mandhana give India watchful fifty stand
Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana largely stayed circumspect through the powerplay. While Mandhana cruised at run a ball by peppering the legside boundary with four fours whenever she got one the pads, Shafali went after the offside boundary, particularly against Gardner with a four and six in the fourth over. They hardly took any risks which meant it was only the second time since the 2023 T20 World Cup semi-final between the same two sides that Australia couldn't take a wicket in the powerplay in a T20I.
Shafali took on Gardner again in the ninth over and followed her 13-run first over with 12 with another sequence of six and a four. As Shafali started to cut loose, captain Sophie Molineux took it upon herself and struck first ball by knocking over Shafali's off stump. Jemimah Rodrigues started with a glorious inside-out boundary over the covers but her mix-up with Mandhana gave India another blow. Rodrigues was ball-watching after her reverse sweep and didn't respond to Mandhana's call, which sent the opener back for 38 off 37.
Harmanpreet does it again against Australia
The scoring rate was just over seven when Harmanpreet came out and so did the sun. Unlike the batters before her, she attacked regularly with both power and placement, to up the run rate. However, Australia's hard lengths and a slightly slow pitch meant India never ran away with the scoring rate. India hadn't got more than one boundary an over since Shafali had been dismissed and after Molineux's seven-run, boundary-less 18th over they were 134 for 2 with the third-wicket stand gone past 50. That's when Harmanpreet unleashed the Harmonster, not without some drama.
Soon after Harmanpreet hit her sixth four in 22 balls, Rodrigues got two lives in as many balls. Her pull to deep square leg went through Georgia Wareham's hands for six before Nicola Carey put down a tougher chance, diving forward from long-off. India sought more runs and decided to retire out Rodrigues to bring in the big-hitting Richa Ghosh. But Ghosh remained a spectator in the last over as Harmanpreet launched three sixes in a row, aided by another fielding lapse from Australia. Her two straight sixes brought up a 25-ball half-century, the quickest by an Indian at women's T20 World Cups. When she went for a third in a row, the ball went through Litchfield's hands over her head before Harmanpreet was finally caught by Perry at mid-off for 56 off 27. Deepti Sharma's top edge off the final ball made it a 23-run over and a total of 170 that once looked out of reach for India and was the highest against Australia at women's T20 World Cups.
India, Australia trade blows
If Georgia Voll started the chase with a boundary, Renuka struck next ball to trap her lbw, with the help of a review that overturned the on-field decision. If Litchfield ended the second over with back-to-back fours off Kranti Gaud, Renuka and Shafali conceded a single each in the next two overs to put the pressure back on Australia. Mooney then broke the streak of 13 boundary-less balls with two leg-side boundaries off Renuka before Litchfield dispatched a straight six in a 12-run Shafali over to give Australia 49 in the powerplay.
Perry, Gardner lead the chase after India spinners strike
It was anybody's game from there. India edged ahead when Shree Charani, India's leading wicket-taker at the tournament, got the big wicket of Litchfield, who returned to the XI after missing three games with injury, as she shanked the ball to Mandhana at long-off for 24 and three overs later Mooney skied one off Deepti. With 99 to get off the last 10 overs, Perry showed her class under pressure by finding the gaps on either side of the pitch whereas Gardner took the aerial route regularly.
The game was starting to drift towards India when Australia needed 86 from 48, but Gardner smashed a four and a six off consecutive deliveries as Radha erred with her lengths and Perry followed it with a four to make it a 17-run over. Two overs later, Gardner slog-swept Shree Charani for six and again Perry followed with a four of her own and the 16-run over meant Australia now needed 46 from 30.
Even though India were holding on to their catches this game, the pressure started to show with the odd misfields amid numerous bowling changes. The boundaries flowed more easily now, Perry brought up a solid 33-ball half-century with a straight boundary and Gardner followed with hers off 28 balls in the 18th over to stamp their authority further. Perry skied one to mid-off in the penultimate over to fall for 56 before Wareham finished things off.
