Sharjah: Captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbeaten 54* went in vain as Australia beat India by nine runs in Group A match to reach Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals on Sunday.
Australia maintained their unbeaten record in the tournament with fourth consecutive win in the group stage. On the other hand, India’s chances to qualify for the semis rest with the result of the final Group A encounter between New Zealand and Pakistan on Monday.
If Pakistan win the match then India will become the second team from the group to reach semis.
Chasing 152, Shafali Verma gave India a flying start with her attacking cameo of 20 off 13 balls including two fours and a six before Ashleigh Gardner drew first blood in the fourth over.
Jemimah Rodrigues and Smriti Mandhana then added a brief 13-run partnership before Sophie Molineux gave second hiccup to India. She dismissed Smriti for six in the final over of the powerplay. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur came in to bat at No. 4.
In the next over, Megan Schutt gave another jolt to India’s innings after removing Jemimah (16). Harmanpreet and Deepti Sharma carved a crucial 63-run partnership which saw both batters rotating strike frequently and hitting the lose balls to ropes.
Molineux broke the partnership in the 16th over and shifted momentum in their favour. After Deepti’s wicket, India were needed 42 runs in 25 balls with Harmanpreet on the other end.
However, India’s tail could not accommodate to the equation and faltered in the crunch situation, leaving lone warrior Harmanpreet with no support. In the final two overs, the Indian captain struck four boundaries to give much-needed boost to the scoreboard. Meanwhile, she completed her half-century off 44 balls.
With 14 needed off the last over, India lost four wickets including two run outs as Harmanpreet only played two balls off Annabel Sutherland’s over. India could only manage to post 142/9 in 20 overs.
For Australia, Molineux and Sutherland bagged two wickets each.
Earlier, India suffered a setback before the start of play as Asha Sobhana suffered a knee injury during the warm-up on the sidelines of the toss. Radha Yadav replaced her in the playing 11 after Australia’s captain agreed to match referee’s request for a late change.
The other change in India’s side was Pooja Vastrakar, who replaced S. Sanjana while Australia were without their regular captain Alyssa Healy (injured) and Tayla Vlaeminck (ruled out), who were replaced by Grace Harris and Darcie Brown.
Opting to bat first, Australia did not get the desired start in the powerplay as Renuka Singh, Shreyanka Patil and Pooja Vastrakar bowled tight lengths on slow and low Sharjah wicket.
Grace Harris started Australia’s scoring with a four towards point off Renuka on the second ball of the innings. Harmanpreet introduced Shreyanka in the second over and the move worked as bowled four dot balls to Beth Mooney while giving just two runs.
In the next over, Mooney, who was under pressure, tried to flex her arms but only found Radha towards the backward point. On the next ball, Renuka trapped Georgia Wareham in front of the wickets to clinch her second scalp on successive balls. Stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath joined Grace in the middle.
Pooja bowled the fourth over of the innings and gave six runs off it before Renuka returned for her third over in the powerplay.
In the final over of the field restriction, Grace struck Shreyanka for four on the first ball but the all-rounder finished well with just seven off it. Australia were 37/2 after 6 overs.
Arundhati Reddy came into attack for the seventh over and kept the pressure on Australian batters. However, Tahlia and Grace hit fours off Pooja in the next over to accumulate 10 from it.
Deepti Sharma started with a tight over to restrict Australia to 65/2 at the halfway mark. Meanwhile, Tahlia became the fastest Australian women’s player to complete 1000 T20I runs. He completed the feat in 37 innings, one short of Meg Lanning.
In the 11th over, Renuka returned to attack and completed her quota of four overs with figures of 2-24. The Australia duo stitched a 62-run crucial partnership for the third wicket before Radha broke the stand. Harmanpreet Kaur dropped Tahlia for 31 off Radha at extra-cover in the 12th over before she finally got her out two balls later in the same over. Ellyse Perry came in to bat at No. 5 as Australia were 80/3 after 12 overs.
Grace switched gears in the 13th over and hit two fours off Arundhati to add 11 from the over. Deepti finally gave some respite to India as she removed Grace for 40 in the 14th over. Ashleigh Gardner had a very short stint in the middle as Pooja sent her back to the pavilion in the 15th over.
Phoebe Litchfield and Ellyse kept the scoreboard ticking in the final overs. Ellyse took charge on her shoulders and struck Shreyanka for a four and six on consecutive balls to add 14 from the 16th over.
With Litchfield and Ellyse in the middle, Australia added 17 runs in the next two overs before Deepti removed the latter for 32 off 23 including two fours and a six in the penultimate over.
Australia lost two more wickets in the final over bowled by Shreyanka before Litchfield finished the innings with a six to post 151/8 in 20 overs.
Brief scores: Australia 151/8 in 20 overs (Grace Harris 40, Tahlia McGrath 32, Ellyse Perry 32; Renuka Singh 2-24, Deepti Sharma 2-28) beat India 142/9 in 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 54 not out, Deepti Sharma 29; Annabel Sutherland 2-22, Sophie Molineux 2-32) by nine runs.
–IANS