Four wickets fall in wild final over as Aussies beat India to book World Cup semi final spot
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India captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbeaten half-century went in vain as defending champion Australia took four wickets in the last over and won by nine runs at the Women’s T20 World Cup on Monday morning.
Australia advanced from Group A to the semi finals with the win. India's fate now depends on the outcome of the New Zealand vs Pakistan game the following night.
Kaur took her team close to a successful chase with 54 not out off 47 balls.
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India started the final over at 5-138, needing 14 runs to win. Two run-outs and two wickets for Aussie bowler Annabel Sutherland saw India finish its innings at 9-142.
Australia chose to bat first and rode on vital middle-order runs from Tahlia McGrath (32) and Ellyse Perry (32) after opener Grace Harris hit 40 in a total of 8-151.
Australia finished top of its group, winning all four games.
Australia's players celebrate the wicket of India's Shreyanka Patil. AP
"We knew they were going to go hard," Aussie star Sophie Molineux said of India's batters.
"It was a quality game of cricket, went down to the wire and could have gone either way.
"Just glad we held our nerve at the end there."
India is currently second after two wins and two losses. Both India and New Zealand have four points each, two more than Pakistan.
A win for the Kiwis on Tuesday will see them through, while Pakistan winning will make it a three-way fight for the final qualification spot dependent on net run-rate.
England powered its way to 0-113 in only 10 overs as Maia Bouchier put on an unbeaten opening stand with Danielle Wyatt-Hodge, who continued her splendid tournament form to score 51 not out off 26 balls.
This was after Scotland was restricted to 6-109 in its 20 overs. Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone picked up 2-13 in four overs.
With the win England moved to the top of Group B with three successive wins in as many games.
It is equal on six points with second-place South Africa, but ahead on a comfortable net run-rate of +1.716. England’s final game is against third-place West Indies (four points). All three teams could find themselves in a battle for the two knockout spots from the group.
