In a tightly fought contest Australia defeated India by 9 runs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday and booked a place to the semi-finals of the Women's T20 World Cup on Sunday. In an injury marred encounter, Australia were missing in their skipper and wicket-keeper Alyssa Healy while India had to replace Asha Sobhana with Radha Yadav soon after the toss.
The Indian women who have now witnessed two wins and two losses in the tournament will have to wait for the results of other teams in order to secure a berth in the semi-final. The Women in blue will be keenly awaiting the results of world cup match between Pakistan and New Zealand today. If New Zealand win the match, it would the end of rope for Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. Meanwhile, in case Pakistan do win the clash, the semi-finalist in the group would be chosen on the basis of net run rate.
After winning the toss, Australia skipper Tahlia McGrath elected to bat first in Sharjah. Despite a shaky start, the Australians managed to post a total of 151/8 from their quota of 20 overs thanks to some crucial knocks from Grace Harris (40 off 41 balls) and captain McCrath (32 off 26 balls).
Meanwhile, Renuka Singh and Deepti Sharma were India's best performers with the ball, taking 2 wickets each, giving away just 24 and 28 runs respectively. Shreyanka Patil, Pooja Vastrakar and Radha Yadav also reaped the rewards with one wicket apiece.
Chasing a total of 152 runs, India were at one stage struggling at 47/3 after 6.5 overs. However, a partnership between captain Harmanpreet Kaur (54 off 47 balls) and Deepti Sharma (29 off 25 balls) brought India back into the game.
Later, India lost 6 quick wickets for just 31 runs, leaving their chances in the hands of skipper Harmanpreet alone. With 14 runs needed from the last over, Annabel Sutherland gave away almost nothing and eventually inflicted a 9-run loss on the Indians.
