LONDON: Australia knocked India out of the Women’s T20 World Cup after Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner produced match-winning half-centuries in a six-wicket victory at Lord’s on Sunday.
The Australians maintained their perfect record in the group stage, winning all five matches to finish at the top of the standings and book their place in the semi-finals by chasing down India’s target of 171 with one over to spare.
India entered the contest needing a victory to qualify after South Africa strengthened their own semi-final hopes with a four-wicket win over Bangladesh earlier in the day.
Australia suffered an early setback when opener Georgia Voll was dismissed with the second ball of the innings, but Perry and Gardner rebuilt the chase with a crucial 100-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Perry scored 56 from 38 deliveries before being dismissed by Shree Charani, while Gardner remained unbeaten on 53 off 29 balls to steer Australia to victory.
“We obviously got to see how India bat and knew it was a good wicket and just needed a good partnership,” Perry said after being named Player of the Match.
“Hopefully, two more big games to go. But focus will be on the semi-finals first.”
Earlier, India posted 170-4 after captain Harmanpreet Kaur led the charge with a blistering 56 off 27 balls, including three sixes and six boundaries.
Openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma laid a strong foundation with a 66-run opening partnership, while Jemimah Rodrigues contributed 34 from 28 deliveries before retiring out late in the innings.
Despite recording their highest total against Australia in a Women’s T20 World Cup match, India were unable to defend the score as their hopes of winning a maiden Women’s T20 World Cup title came to an end.
The defeat also marked India’s second consecutive group-stage exit after failing to reach the semi-finals in the 2024 edition.
Defending champions New Zealand had already been eliminated after a nine-wicket defeat to England on Saturday. Australia will now face West Indies in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
