Auckland: A dominant display by the Australian batters on Saturday saw them registering an imposing six-wicket victory over India despite the latter posting a good score of 277 runs here at Eden Park in the ICC Women's World Cup 2022 match.
However, the match did go down to the wire with Australia needing 8 runs in the last over. Jhulan Goswami needed to defend 8 off the final over but the Indians were hoping against hope as Beth Mooney (30) made sure to take her team to the finishing line.
Skipper Meg Lanning led the way with a scintillating knock of 97 runs while openers Alyssa Healy (72) and Rachael Haynes (43) made sure to provide their team a strong base to be capitalised on later.
The path to semifinals has become tougher for India after their third loss in five games. The 2017 edition runners-up play their remaining games against South Africa and Bangladesh.
If batting was a concern for India before the game, Australia getting to a stiff target with ease has given the bowlers plenty to ponder over.
Healy was the aggressor alongside the in-form Haynes and toyed with the Indian attack -- be it pacers or spinners.
The likes of Jhulan Goswami and Meghna Singh were either too full or too short early on and Healy was quick to punish them with a flurry of cover drives, cut shots and pulls.
When India's best spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad came into the attack, Alyssa used the sweep shot brilliantly to put more pressure on the opposition. India playing a bowler less in the absence of Deepti Sharma also did not help their cause.
With Australia marching to victory at 225 for two, a passing shower stopped proceedings at Eden Park but play resumed shortly and Australia completed the job with little fuss.
Earlier, skipper Mithali Raj (68) and Yastika Bhatia (59) saved India's derailment after the team lost early wickets coupled with a later onslaught by in-form batter Harmanpreet Kaur (57) and Pooja Vastrakar (34) meant the team posted an improbable 277/7 against Australia.
India's best batter so far in the tournament Smriti Mandhana (10) couldn't get going as she lost her wicket to Darcie Brown, who also dismissed Shafali Verma.
By this time, the Women in Blue were staring at a batting collapse until the skipper came to the rescue and stitched a 130-run partnership with Yastika Bhatia, thus setting up the platform for Kaur and Pooja Vastrakar to go for the kill. Vastrakar once again provided the late flourish with 34 off 28 balls.
Pooja and Harmanpreet blasted 64 runs off 47 balls in their seventh wicket stand with India picking 52 runs in the last five overs.
India decided to strengthen the batting by bringing back opener Shafali at the expense of all-rounder Deepti Sharma, who had batted at four in the previous two games.
Yastika, who batted at three with Shafali joining Smriti at the top, scored her first half century of the tournament batting alongside veteran Mithali, who dropped herself a place down to number four.
The skipper also got back amongst the runs after a lean run by her lofty standards in the first four games.
Both Mithali and Yastika found it tough to rotate the strike early on in their innings before they found their rhythm. They used the late cut to good effect against spinners Alana King and Ashleigh Gardner, who were not at their best on the day.
The captain also hit a straight six off left-arm spinner Jess Jonasen enroute to her first half-century of the competition.
After both Yastika and Mithali perished trying to accelerate, Harmanpreet rose to the occasion and ensured her team set up a competitive total.
The T20 skipper, who was even dropped from the playing eleven before the World Cup due to prolonged lean patch, reached her third 50 plus score in the tournament proving that she is a big tournament player.
Harmanpreet used her trademark sweep shot off both spinners and pacers to put pressure on the opposition. She was helped by Pooja who smashed couple of sixes and a boundary to end the innings on a high.
A usually disciplined Australia bowled as many as 24 wides to help India's cause.
Brief Score:
India: 277 for 7 in 50 overs (Mithali Raj 68, Yastika Bhatia 59, Harmanpreet Kaur 57 not out; Darcie Brown 3/30).
Australia: 280 for 4 in 49.3 overs (Meg Lanning 97; Pooja vastrakar 2/43).
With PTI
